22-Jun-16 Public hospitals in China are facing tougher scrutiny over prescriptions and tests as Beijing tries to find ways to cut costs and keep spending growth below 10%. A directive by the NHFPC aimed at controlling spending calls on its provincial and municipal branches to convey budget goals to public hospitals and establish a system for overseeing health care expenses. [image: South China Morning Post]

13-Jun-16 In 2012, SGD4.7 billion was spent on healthcare in Singapore. Fast-forward to 2016, spending on healthcare is budgeted at SGD11 billion. Singapore’s medical spending growth is five times more than the general inflation rate. This is a worrying statistic. The financial burden on both the individual and family will be immense. [image: Aon Hewitt / Yahoo!]

07-Jun-16 From Aug-16 to Jan-17, there will be five increases to hospital charges in Vietnam. Hospitals are not to collect extra money from patients, except for the gap in insurance coverage. Charges must be based on market demand, not on revenue targets. Hospitals must also spend at least 5% of their revenue on improving medical services. [image: Duc Anh]

06-Jun-16 Vietnam's Prime Minister targets 90% of Vietnamese having health insurance by 2020. After 25 years of implementing health insurance, coverage has reached 75%. He asked local authorities and ministries to prepare specific plans and tasks to achieve the 90% target. All hospitals must connect their data to national health insurance inspection networks in order to receive payments. [image: Vietnam Net]

05-Jun-16 160 million people are so far members of the "JKN" universal health insurance program in Indonesia, and it has been credited with helping many since its 2014 launch. But it faces numerous challenges, from underfunding, to slow and patchy implementation, to long lines at clinics in densely populated areas, where the system has become a victim of its own success. [image: AFP-JIJI]