Healthcare reform without crisis, Singapore style

Presenter: Meng-Kin Lim, National University of Singapore

Abstract

Singapore has managed to pursue its healthcare reform agenda without undue interruption or major policy reversals. An important reason is the freely-elected ruling party has been in continuous power since 1959. Back then, healthcare was mainly funded from government revenues but standards were poor. Now, the government’s share of total healthcare spending is less than one-third, and standards are high. All the major hospitals are JCI-accredited and even attract 400,000 foreign patients a year. The successful introduction of medical saving accounts, with heavy emphasis on individual responsibility, and the successful restructuring of the healthcare sector, with a strong market orientation, reflect the skillful manipulation of “voice” and “choice” in achieving social goals.