DID PAP INFLATE MEDICAL COSTS TO MAKE ITS SUBSIDIES LOOK GOOD?

<Blog post by Phillip Ang>

PAP should focus on improving the well-being of Singaporeans instead of using propaganda to delude itself.

The more citizens are assisted by the government, the worse off we are. If our economy was really on steroids, why should we need an ever-increasing amount of handouts? Something is very wrong here.

Every instance of PAP helping citizens results from PAP first helping itself, ie, PAP KPIs are based on increasing prices of goods and services. For example, PAP increased HDB grants only after it had increased public housing prices multiple times the grants.

It’s the same with education, healthcare, etc. This can be confirmed by our polyclinic bills.

In 2014, the ‘full amount’ for consultation was “$38.97” regardless of the duration (below). Common sense tells us this is not right. This is also an arbitrary figure, about double the fees of a private GP.

Polyclinic bill in 2014

Since the patient paid only $6.10, the subsidy amounted to $32.87 ($38.97 less $6.10) or 84%.

But did the patient receive $32.87 worth of subsidised consultation? How could this be possible when private GPs charge half the consultation fees of polyclinics, not to mention the difference between an experienced private GP and one fresh out of medical school? What happens to the tax dollars expensed by the government?

There was an 84% grant for consultation but this was only after PAP had self-inflated consultation fees to an unrealistic level.

About a year later, the consultation fee was again arbitrarily increased by 7% to $41.68. The amount paid by the patient saw a similar % increase from $6.10 to $6.50.

2015 polyclinic bill increased by 7%, courtesy of PAP

It is true the PAP has been driving up healthcare costs to stratospheric levels, profiting from our misery. But without any representation in parliament to question PAP on the real beneficiaries of its grants, Singaporeans will have to consider Khaw’sJB advice.

However, compared to hospital bills, polyclinic ones are peanuts. Hospital bills can turn out to be killers and many have felt they are better off dead than becoming a burden to their loved ones.

Link to image

Do C-class ward patients receive 65% to 80% subsidies? The answer is obviously no.

The average C-class bill comes up to $2000, give or take. This would imply an unsubsidised bill of $10,000 in a fan-cooled’’, noisy, 8-bedded ward with OJT doctors. This surely must be the most expensive healthcare in the world.

With PAP hiking healthcare costs like nobody’s business, no wonder 272,000 patients had to opt for ‘subsidised’ care since 2000.

Opposition MPs should demand transparency from PAP on behalf of Singaporeans. We should stop fooling ourselves – PAP’s healthcare subsidies and grants have always been derived from self-inflated figures.