Singapore’s medical inflation rate spells disaster

 13-Jun-16, Yahoo!

The Good Life Co-operation conference highlighted the issue of rising healthcare costs in Singapore, and sought to find ways to keeping costs affordable. In 2012, $4.7 billion was spent on healthcare. Fast-forward to 2016, spending on healthcare is budgeted at $11 billion. Singapore’s medical spending growth rate is five times more than the general inflation rate. This is a worrying statistic as we question the sustainability of this increasing rate.

Image: The Heart Truths

Reasons for the high medical inflation rate:

1. Inefficiency of medical procedures and services
2. Administrative costs
3. Advancements in medicine and technology
4. Ageing Population

Singapore’s out-of-pocket expense for healthcare is astounding, at more than 50%. Our healthcare system is highly income dependent and Singaporeans shoulder most of the financial burden themselves when it comes to healthcare costs.
As the medical costs continue to rise, lower and middle-income groups will find it increasingly difficult to afford good healthcare.

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