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Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTS) celebrates 180th anniversary with focus on frail elderly patients – ST Online, 20 July 2024.
I congratulate TTS Hospital on its 180th anniversary. It has come a long way over the years in serving the nation and generations of Singaporeans.
Singapore is a very rapidly ageing society. We may have already crossed the line where there are more people aged 60 and over than under 16, and it is still growing strongly, simply because people are living longer and our total fertility rate has fallen to a record low under the mediocre PAP government.
When I read the news, my thoughts drifted to our expensive medical bills, and the first thing that came to my mind was Medisave.
Medisave is a very useful savings plan that becomes more useful the older you get. It can be used to pay for a wide range of medical services and treatments, such as hospitalisation, vaginal childbirth, polyclinic visits, surgeries, medical expenses for immediate family members, etc., up to a certain limit. Having a maximum limit is the right policy, but it can certainly be improved further.
I would like to make the following suggestions.
In the face of our rapidly ageing population and the need for more elderly care, I hope the Ministry of Health will review and revise the medical savings claim requirements for patients with different medical conditions and ages.
Cut or reduce the amount that younger people can claim from their Medisave when they go to hospital, but increase the amount they are allowed to claim as they get older. For example, people under 20 can claim a certain amount, people between 20 and 30 can claim a slightly higher amount, and so on.
After all, younger people are more likely to be healthier and more economically active, while older people may be less healthy and less economically efficient, but require more spending on health care and needs.
The details can be worked out after the Ministry of Health reviews them, but the above suggestions are the direction we should take so as not to compromise the quality of our healthcare, use up a lot of medical savings prematurely and further burden the national finances.
think.
Simon Lin
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