“Singapore healthcare firms ailed by rising costs, but there are bright spots” (BT, Jan 24)Comment:
My friend who gave birth to 3 children (2 boys + 1 girl) in the last 4 years, told me that the polyclinic consultation fee for each of her 3 children were different – First child $13.20,Second child $14.00,Third child $14.80, and possibly during the pandemichttps://healthpal.sg/
https://thesmartlocal.com/……/national-skin……/amp/
The polyclinic consultation fee is now $14.80https://polyclinic.singhealth.com.sg/patient-care/charges-payment
In 1997, the fee was $7
This works out to an increase of 111.4%
Inflation from 1997 to 2022 was 50.7% (73.627 CPI 1997, 110.96 CPI 2022 Nov)
https://data.gov.sg/……/consumer-price-index-annual……
So, the polyclinic fee increased by 111.4% against inflation of 50.7%
Since the “polyclinic fee” is probably the cheapest that the lower-income can go to, for medical consultation – why has the increase been more than double the inflation rate?
In this connection, I understand that the 2 national health groups may have been making surpluses, almost every year
For example, one healthcare group had a surplus of $144m (7,677m revenue – 7,533m expenditure) for the year ended 31 Mar 2022
https://www.singhealth.com.sg/……/SingHealth…… (page 106)
