Social Studies, Chapter 3- Part 1

Part 1: Approach to healthcare in Singapore.

ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL:

·        Encouraging self-reliance

Medisave

 Medisave encourages Singaporeans to take care of their own health. The Singapore Government has made it compulsory for all employees in Singapore to save for their own medical expenses.  Under this system, 6-8% of an employee’s salary is automatically deducted from his salary and transferred to his Medisave account every month. (Linking sentence) By encouraging Singaporeans to have money in their Medisave accounts, they are better able to pay for healthcare. In this way, the people she the costs of healthcare with the government. It can therefore help to lighten the government’s burden of paying for healthcare. The government need not depend on raising taxes to pay rising healthcare costs.

Medishield

The government created Medishield to help people who require long-term treatment of more serious illnesses such as dialysis but are not able to afford their treatment. Medishield is a national healthcare insurance scheme. Singaporeans pay for this scheme using their Medisave. (Note: Medishield is not compulsory) (Linking sentence) This system ensures that Singaporeans who do not have enough money in their Medisave accounts to pay for expensive treatment,  can still have enough money to pay for such treatment if they decide to take up the Medishield insurance policy.

·         Maintaining good health

Singaporeans are encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle by engaging in regular physical exercises and eating a well-balanced diet. (Linking sentence) By adopting a healthy lifestyle, Singaporeans could reduce the risk of getting major diseases. This would help in turn reduce the cost of medical treatment for them.

ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT:

·        Keeping healthcare affordable

Giving direct subsidies to government hospitals, polyclinics and some nursing homes

 To ensure that healthcare remains affordable for most Singaporeans especially the lower-income group, the government gives different rates of subsidies to the different classes…