Free healthcare and higher taxes or die and cannot fall sick

[LPPL]

Think there have been many cases of people faced with million dollar medical bills. Think it is time to review the need for free healthcare. Would you rather we have high taxes and have free healthcare or have it status quo where healthcare is only for rich in society?

 

http://theindependent.sg/1m-for-hospital-bill-healthcare-or-nightmare/

[Vratenza]

I get confused by Fina Leong on first read...went through  2 more times still non the wisher.

 

So she is saying she could have saved more money if she had gone to private hospital in the first place? Why then she say that specialists and private hospitals are "gravely expensive"?

 

 

Unfortunately, I feel that the entire healthcare ecosystem is such that specialists and private facilities are gravely expensive, and billing is structured in a way to max-out insurance payout in a cold and professionally institutionalised way.

 

then the next paragraph

 

 

It is truly regretful that we were ignorant about mum’s insurance coverage. Had we known that mum’s insurance covered private specialist treatments, we could’ve sought private specialist expertise from Day 1.

 

So it means that as long as the insurance pays, the fact that private specialist and hospital's "gravely expensive" charges immediately makes it right?

 

In the first place, how did she know that her bill for the private specialist/hospital stay would not come up to S$5million? 

 

she can first check out on average how much is 1 day of ICU in a private hospital  and how much a private specialist charge per visit to the ICU.

 

I can accept that she is in period of grieving and with no clarity of mind when she writes the article.....

 

 

[Vid]

$1m bill... how?

Who pay?

No money then how?

[Vid]

I get confused by Fina Leong on first read...went through  2 more times still non the wisher.

 

So she is saying she could have saved more money if she had gone to private hospital in the first place? Why then she say that specialists and private hospitals are "gravely expensive"?

 

 

then the next paragraph

 

 

So it means that as long as the insurance pays, the fact that private specialist and hospital's "gravely expensive" charges immediately makes it right?

 

In the first place, how did she know that her bill for the private specialist/hospital stay would not come up to S$5million? 

 

she can first check out on average how much is 1 day of ICU in a private hospital  and how much a private specialist charge per visit to the ICU.

 

I can accept that she is in period of grieving and with no clarity of mind when she writes the article.....

 

I feel she meant that the care is better in private and since her mother's insurance would cover private hospitals as well, she should have sought that option in the first place. The diagnosis for her mother was slow and that possibly made her condition worse which also prolonged the stay in the public hospital. If immediate treatment was given, her chances would have been better and less costly (possibly)

 

[Vid]

Anyway, the post was from a year ago

[Vratenza]

If her mother has insurance to cover private hospital stay, her restructure hospital stay should be covered fully too with the difference in class vs private/A class being  paid out in cash.

 

$1m bill... how?

Who pay?

No money then how?

 

[Vid]

If her mother has insurance to cover private hospital stay, her restructure hospital stay should be covered fully too with the difference in class vs private/A class being  paid out in cash.

 

I think it all depends on the insurance policy her mother bought. Some cheaper policies once reached a certain payout amount (max) will have to ownself pay out of pocket.

Anyway, looking beyond that. A $1m bill is huge for anyone.

[SuPerBoRed]

lol... the title of this thread is about public healthcare.... 

[LPPL]

I think it all depends on the insurance policy her mother bought. Some cheaper policies once reached a certain payout amount (max) will have to ownself pay out of pocket.

 

Anyway, looking beyond that. A $1m bill is huge for anyone.

Even for a minister, that is almost a year of his exorbitantly high public salary!

[Vratenza]

Yeah, We don't have the full details of how the exchange was between the family and the hospital. 

 

Sometimes families want to cling onto any last shred of hope despite being told that the situation is terminal, insisted on not pulling the plug adding days to the ICU stay, insisted on using the latest medication... when cost is explained to them they just wave it off saying "cost is not an issue, just save her"

 

Only when the dust settled, their rationality got shocked back into life by the bill that ensues.

 

I think it all depends on the insurance policy her mother bought. Some cheaper policies once reached a certain payout amount (max) will have to ownself pay out of pocket.

Anyway, looking beyond that. A $1m bill is huge for anyone.

 

[Victor68]

i won't want to comment on extreme cases. basic health care or even for terminal sickness, government must provide for their citizens. there is no need for 1st class ward.

 

as tax payer, i am more than willing to contribute. what is inflating medical fees today are due to insurance and privatization of hospitals. i maybe wrong but that is how i feel.

[Karoon]

I believe gahmen is now pulling all stops to maximise tax revenue before taking further steps. I notice my car is like a fine magnet, and had iras call me up to double check on tax submissions etc. Never happened before.

[LPPL]

I believe gahmen is now pulling all stops to maximise tax revenue before taking further steps. I notice my car is like a fine magnet, and had iras call me up to double check on tax submissions etc. Never happened before.

Govt is finding ways to milk our medisave by making people spend on all those compulsory insurance. Insurance is good, but the only thing I have against it is that it is against fair competition. To be honest, I would rather pay high taxes and have free healthcare.

[Vratenza]

yeah noted the same... some say Government seem to be pretty hard up for money.....instruction is problem straight from the very top

 

I believe gahmen is now pulling all stops to maximise tax revenue before taking further steps. I notice my car is like a fine magnet, and had iras call me up to double check on tax submissions etc. Never happened before.

 

[LPPL]

yeah noted the same... some say Government seem to be pretty hard up for money.....instruction is problem straight from the very top

If not how to maintain these leeches sitting on the board of SWF?

 

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2018/07/11/temasek-posts-record-portfolio-of-s308-billion-but-doesnt-disclose-its-management-costs/

[Sdf4786k]

thats heavily discounted liao.

From what was written, it was more of finding a reason for closure I suppose.

Having a love one die can trigger one to analyse if an alternate decision made would have a better outcome.

https://www.asiaone.com/health/surgeon-billed-brunei-patient-40m-over-4-years

Surgeon billed Brunei patient $40m over 4 years

SINGAPORE - The $26 million bill that Dr Susan Lim charged for her medical services to a woman member of Brunei's royal family was eye-popping, to say the least.

That was for five months of services provided from Jan 15 to June 16, 2007.

But it appears that multi-million-dollar sums had been charged by Dr Lim and paid by the Brunei High Commission for several years.

The patient under the care of Dr Lim, a general surgeon in private practice, was Pengiran Anak Hajah Damit, the younger sister of Brunei's queen and a cousin of the sultan.

Dr Lim treated her for breast cancer from 2001 until she died in August 2007.

Documents filed in court provide details of the bills between 2004 and 2007, which total $40 million. Details of the charges for the earlier three years are not known.

The Bruneians paid all her bills, which she had submitted till March 27, 2007.

But after the patient died, Dr Lim was queried on the rest of the 2007 bill (from Jan 15 to June 16, 2007), which came up to $26 million. This is inclusive of GST, which was 5 per cent then.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Sdf4786k

[Wind30]

Free healthcare is stupid... we need to reduce the cost of healthcare. Government needs to have a detailed study on the components of the healthcare costs first. 
 

I am thinking of setting up a website to ask people for their hospital bills... a breakdown is the first step... actually the opposition or government should be doing this. 

[Playtime]

can't say about cost.... but 2 long weeks to discover a tumour is kinda .... strange....

 

"She also regretted not approaching a private hospital instead of admitting her mother into a public facility: “We also made the mistake of thinking “all hospitals are the same”. There is a HUGE difference in SPEED and EXPERTISE for public healthcare and private specialists. For a woman over 50’s and post-menopause, if there is unusual swelling in the abdomen, a detailed scan to check for tumour is required immediately. When mum was first admitted in January, the doctors took 2 long weeks to discover the tumour. Something that the right scan would instantly reveal."

Edited January 22, 2020 by Playtime