SINGAPORE: Health Minister Ong Ye Kung criticised the Singapore Democratic Party’s (SDP) proposals on Monday (Apr 28), saying that the party should “explain honestly” what they are suggesting.
He added that the proposals do not have “a snowball’s chance” of contributing to a thriving Singapore, and are “mere populist calls” aimed at winning seats in parliament, he said at a People’s Action Party (PAP) rally in Sembawang.
Mr Ong highlighted two SDP manifesto policies – healthcare and housing – in his rally speech.
On healthcare, he said the SDP’s proposal made it seem as if the system could easily be redesigned to lower costs. But as someone involved in designing Singapore’s current healthcare systems and policies, he said he could not tell what exactly the opposition party was proposing.
Under the SDP’s proposed healthcare plan, a single-payer system would be introduced, in which the government manages a central healthcare fund.
This fund will be run along the lines of a government-subsidised public insurance scheme to finance compulsory basic health, accident and pregnancy coverage for all citizens and permanent residents residing here for more than six months a year.
To this, Mr Ong said that currently, a hospital bill is mostly paid in three ways: subsidies from the government, claims from MediShield Life and MediSave.
“This is called the S+2M system, and about eight in 10 hospital bills are paid using S+2M.
“A single-payer system means we get rid of two out of the three alphabets. So, my question to the SDP is – which two are you getting rid of?”
Mr Ong said that whichever the case, it would mean the SDP intends to either end all healthcare subsidies or abolish MediShield Life – and that the party should explain its proposals “honestly” to residents.
“If there is no subsidy, all hospital bills must be covered only by insurance, which means MediShield Life premiums are going to shoot through the roof,” he said.
“If there is no MediShield Life, and hospital bills can only be covered by subsidies, then taxes – GST, income tax – are going to shoot through the roof to pay for more healthcare subsidies.
“Should we not ask them for an explanation?”
Mr Ong also said the SDP appeared to suggest that merging the three healthcare clusters – the National Healthcare Group, the National University Health System, and SingHealth – into one would help cut administrative costs and solve healthcare challenges.
In its healthcare plan, the SDP said that hospital running costs should be funded through taxes, calling it “the only way” to lower the cost of services at the point of use.
It added that the creation of two, then five, and now three healthcare clusters had led to significant wastage and duplication, with multiple C-suites and other administrators, whereas the system had previously been run efficiently under the Ministry of Health.
