How Singapore Solved Healthcare

[@PolyMatter]

If you enjoyed this video you might also like "How Singapore Solved Housing" kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZWlknilabajorM Also, CuriosityStream and Nebula are currently 41% off: curiositystream.com/polymatter That's just $12 a year!

[@pyeitme508]

Noice

[@HeroPine]

Hi! ... Okay!

[@trendwala9024]

Idian medical facilities is also affordable ...there are many foreigner who travel india for low cost medical facilities

[@endur1el]

Thanks for the great video. I wish you gave sources for your stats and general information so we could easily verify your information.

[@cashlessfailure2860]

I’m surprised that Spain is doing so good in health care

[@admiraljamster]

As a Singaporean, I am genuinely surprised our healthcare system is so revered by the international community. To us it almost feels like something that is given (not for free but well subsidised)

[@alexanderphilip1809]

What was it that LKY said about complacency.

[@bettyxplace3196]

I feel the same as you @Jamster

[@harunsuaidi7349]

Yes, exactly like everyone is aiming for.

[@laurentmisso6732]

Yeap, a lot of people in SG don't know this, and if we have someone in charge that does not understand this, oh well, we had a good run

[@user-gz4ve8mw9l]

In the USA People just drop dead wherever they are, sooner than seek medical treatment. As it's by far the better option of the two tragically. I know that's how I'll likely be dying as well.

[@petercdavidson]

5:39 - I started looking for a rogue autoplaying tab until I realized it was background noise from this video. The ol' stock-footage-with-an-audio-track slip!

[@TyskiDzik]

same

[@NOTLOCKEDD]

I did the same lmfao

[@nauticalresearchdevelopmen8841]

Me too

[@floramew]

I'm watching on mobile, so no tabs here... and still paused the video to check, was my phone freaking out about something? 😂

[@MichaelGoldfrad]

Really confused me (:

[@Unazaki]

Singapore hospitals: We give u an estimate of your costs up front and the average cost islandwide American hospitals: We're gonna pretend we didn't hear that

[@mdv9831]

We are gonna take your lifes savings after we treat you

[@shawnli9284]

No cost breakdown usa

[@MagicalBread]

🥳Gotta love our $5000 ambulance rides….

[@commentor3485]

I wonder how much the American system would save if America had transparent hospital pricing.

[@jimnicholas7334]

Transparency alone would go a long way to solving many issues

[@tomo8433]

Just want to share my personal experience for a better view of the Singapore health system. I was aged 22 when I had a urinary tract infection(UTI). I stayed in a Class A ward which was up to SGD$2000 for my 3 day stay (Including the various test performed and medicine I was given). My ward was a private air-conditioned room with TV and even a personal bathroom to shower in. But I did not had to pay a single cent out of my pocket. Being 22, I have not yet entered the workforce and hence did not have any money in my medisave account. Instead I was able to pay with my mom's medisave account (with her consent ofc) as she was my direct relative, though this was only able to cover 40% of the total cost. The other 60% came from my private insurance which was at a SGD$100 premium per year. Even if lets say I was an orphan and did not have insurance, I was eligible for a 100% covered bill if I was to opt for a class B2 ward as I was serving national service (national conscription) at the time. Gotta say while I disagree with the government on quite a few matters as a citizen, the healthcare system in Singapore is rather good. Hospitalizations aside, Singapore also has government clinics called polyclinics, which are heavily subsidized by the government and are also filled with doctors with lesser experience (Though good enough for the usual things such as flu, viral infection, etc). Hence many citizens are able to have access to affordable healthcare at the cost of waiting time (If you did not have an appointment, the waiting time is about 2-3 hours, worst case scenario 5 hours). If you're infected with a more serious, specialized sort of illness, you're then referred to the private hospitals with specialized doctors which is also heavily subsidized (If you were to go there straight you could save time, but then your treatment will not be as heavily subsidised).

[@Taroxin]

As a Singaporean, I confirm that this is correct. The CPF contribution system is not voluntary though, it's mandatory. I used to bitched about it when I was starting out in my career on my meagre salary but when I started buying my own house in my 30s and going to hospitals, I'm like woah....I can afford all this.

[@zhicong]

Exactly. And.. given my spending habits, without cpf and Medisave, I’d be homeless, and without medical care. =(

[@wanwall151]

@@zhicong and exactly thats the problem with CPF in general. the government designed it to cater for the lowest common denomintor for individuals like yourself who cant manage their finances properly at the expense who could. Alot of PAP's policies are designed to treat its citizens like a resource for the economic well being of the country (no minimum wage, NS, open immigration policy for example)

[@zhicong]

@wanwall151 I don't think I have an issue with managing finances. I just enjoy spending - its my money so why can't I spend it as I see fit? Given an option, I would rather take all my money out from CPF so I have more to spend. Indeed, I've written to them many times and even to the prime minister's offfice asking for CPF to allow me to fully withdraw my CPF money so I can use it to supplement my lifestyle. Its my money - I resent that they wouldn't even allow me to spend it. Blufh

[@GreaterGood2024]

Get your grammar right: "I used to BITCH about it" not bitched ....or you could say, " I BITCHED about it".

[@zhen86]

I don't know what illness can be used for medisave, there is a MP many years ago that said that one of his resident don't have cash and asked to use his medisave that has $10000.00 to pay for his x-ray and was rejected.

[@user-bx9nu8bt5e]

Singapore’s geography is absolutely a benefit! No one’s denying that. Even, us, Singaporeans would wholeheartedly agree with anyone who raises this element. It is indeed smaller, one of the smallest even! In fact, when pitted up against any other nation, it would be almost obtuse to point out Singapore’s size. Her convenient size certainly makes the creation these healthcare institutions and the successful running of them much easier. That said, just because Singapore had geography on her side, does not mean that all small nations fare well in providing transparent, affordable and equitable healthcare. It boils down to governance. And good governance is one in spite of a nation’s acreage.

[@Commievn]

Singapore Geography is great. It lines on the Malacca straits, the busiest shipping route. The West Malaysia is also the least affected by natural disasters in Asia. But it does has a downside such as freshwaters, and tropical climate make it very unpleasant to live.

[@XalphYT]

My birthplace was a city with about the geographic size and population of Singapore. And the city had wide discretion to set healthcare policy. The results were nothing like the success of Singapore.

[@daisuke910]

Location location location 👍🏼

[@sn5301679]

Imagine if you swap indonesian government with singaporean, it will become one of richest country. It will be harder because its bigger and many island. But its possible if there strong will from top-down.

[@bruh-cv7ec]

@@sn5301679 tbh some Indonesian gov is bad at governing so they do something really stupid/ corrupt and ruins everyone's hardwork...

[@ruejr]

This healthcare system works in Singapore and might only work in Singapore because it needs a highly efficient bureaucracy, high rates of formal sector employment, and a relatively flat healthcare system hierarchy. Place this kind of system into the US and it would likely fail due to the layers of government (federal + state). Place this into Thailand and it would likely fail due to having a large informal sector where employers don't pay taxes and contributions. Place this in Germany and it would likely fail because of all the steps needed in its bureaucracy to function in the name of checks and balances.

[@csy897]

well there is 401k and HHS. Those are things that can be expanded upon. But you're right about the efficiency. I have no confidence in the American administrative efficiency

[@Ikxi]

Lmao I wanted to mention Germany too Bureaucracy here is just... it's so slow, and some things are just so confusing

[@sm3675]

While this kind of system might not work in the United States, we can implement a hybrid of Singapore's healthcare. America's hospitals are extremly expenisve. Allowing more options and allowing competetion while still keeping high regulations is a great start.

[@rewater]

@@sm3675 what is funny though is to market it to a general public (the main innovators and investors) you would have to say you've gotten rid of the high regulations, cause Americans suck at "not fitting in", and you might also have to interfere with religious institutions and schooling cause they are way to dependent on and make too much off of the medical system.

[@ssengageisop3952]

@@csy897 HHS？

[@BaronVince]

This system has some similarities to the Belgian system. Yearly meetings are held to determine prices between the government and all providers. Most doctors choose to follow government prices but they can ask higher ones, resulting in a loss of several government benefits. Room upgrades are available but are paid either individually or by your optional insurance. All patient are also required to pay partially for each treatment, to discourage overuse (although the rate for poor citizens is only €1 for GP consultations).

[@kairon156]

As a Canadian I like the bit at the end. People with low or 0 income should still be given health care.

[@TheEpicAppleEater01]

@@kairon156 I agree as an Irishman. Healthcare is subsidised here in a public/private dual system, but for those who genuinely cannot pay the cost, they are given free healthcare cards.

[@remirms2239]

The same is true for Germany.

[@BaronVince]

@@kairon156 In Belgium we use a system of maximum yearly billing. The maximum is dependent on your yearly income and ranges from €2000 to €500. So even in the lowest bracket you could still end up paying €500 yearly (e.g. long ICU stay).

[@kairon156]

​@@BaronVince $500 is about $41 a month and that can totally make or break someone's budget. At least they charge more for someone who's wealthy but that makes me wonder how it scales from their point of view.

[@luxither7354]

Bruh, Singapore just went "Why not both" on whether their healthcare should be private or public.

[@PrograError]

This is for the best... You get the benefit of a NHS for the general population, but get the benefit of private care.

[@Gary_Harlow]

@@PrograError What is the benefit of private care?

[@PrograError]

@@Gary_Harlow faster advanced care for one i.e cosmetic surgery, non time-sensitive surgery like endoscopy

[@superior6564]

@@PrograError Faster care? You're going to the same hospitals with the same system of scheduling, wait times, and emergency rooms as everyone else. Also, cosmetics aren't generally covered by private insurance. Private insurance is a scam.

[@chltmdwp]

@@superior6564 Yep faster care. Just ask Canadians...

[@Gabriel-ez1io]

'hot humid summers' Singaporeans: So, just a regular day?

[@kafkaesk3449]

365 days of summer. Equatorial countries are hot

[@yoiii708]

HAHAHHAH AH YES

[@johnsmith-ir1ne]

Pretty much everywhere, is gonna be hot. Got it?

[@lancetheking7524]

Filipinos: 40 Celsius as usual

[@BritskNguyen]

The solution is easy: hainanese chicken rice once a week keeps the doctor away.

[@admiraljamster]

you forgot the 3 legged brand water to get rid of heatiness, the sole cause of sore throats

[@306316]

the secret is actually drinking piss, but don't tell anyone

[@ThyRandomGuy]

@@admiraljamster Every conservative Asian boomer’s scapegoat, heatiness. Headache? Heatiness. Sore throat? Heatiness. Fever? Heatiness.

[@thetigerii9506]

You'd develop health problems as fast as a fast food loaded westerner if you do shit like that

[@seananlinjunxi868]

@@306316 not exactly piss but purified sewer water

[@vicivitytan4376]

Thank you PolyMatter for your coverage of Singapore's ability to tackle issues like gambling, housing and healthcare! This is one of the most detailed, nuanced and meticulous assessments I've seen outside of Singapore, and it's refreshing to see the perspectives of people around the world :)

[@XalphYT]

Singapore does not get enough press!

[@captainbroady]

@@XalphYT most of our local KZbinrs are also focused on entertainment rather than something like polymatter XD

[@cityraildude]

I wonder if population density has anything to do with it. Good luck having cheap healthcare. What Singapore considers the middle of nowhere is what Australia considers to be very, very close to a large city. Sending an ambulance to the middle of nowhere in Singapore is very different to sending a plane to the middle of nowhere in Australia, and the price probably reflects that

[@rueyyang]

@@cityraildude Not to mention that you might need a satellite phone to call for the plane...

[@elitebeing21]

Lol

[@srry198]

Is it free-market, or is it centrally planned? *Yes.* LOL Singapore in a nutshell

[@F22onblockland]

"perfectly balanced as all things should be"

[@alveolate]

it is most definitely NOT free market. but for healthcare, a tightly regulated system that benefits the vulnerable is infinitely preferrable to free market voodoo.

[@Herbayse]

centrally planned free market

[@Randi-h5q]

@@alveolate agreed. Healthcare when left to the free market is 100% bound to have market failure due to the severe imbalance of power between patients (buyers) and healthcare supplier. As patients are desperate and wouldn't know better; and suppliers need to cover-their-own-a** with defensive medicine and be profit maximising, resulting in a toxic case of over treatment and over charging if left unchecked.

[@xerogue]

@@Randi-h5q everything left to the free market will leas to market failure. Govornments need their hands on everything. The problem isn't govornment, it's bad govornment.

[@AngelineNgkittykat]

My late father was in hospital for months and thankfully for the medical coverage the govt provided for the 'pioneer generation', the out of pocket we had to pay was almost next to zero. This is one of the things that as a Singaporean I am extremely thankful for.

[@linzixuan29]

Damm.

[@rogehmarbi]

I just finished watching "How singapore solved housing" and now they have solved healthcare too. Man that country is on a roll

[@wormsblink2887]

Wait till you hear about education, water, trade, airports, public transport, etc.

[@mwanikimwaniki6801]

@@wormsblink2887 😂Ikr.

[@alex-vd4vm]

bro we solved almost everything

[@russty7569]

It appears almost perplex to me how countries with rich resources couldnt do as much as Singapore. Which makes me, a Singaporean, super grateful to be born here. Our imminent problem now: Population control & aging population… seems like its plaguing all developed countries tho.

[@McToasted]

If we did not manage to solve any of these issues, we would not have survive/thrive for the last 50+ years. We simply do not have the luxury to fail to plan.

[@sylvanfranklin6904]

Next episode: how Singapore can afford to buy its citizens Nebula and Brilliant for free.

[@Spartan-sz7km]

Instead of making students buy the propaganda social studies textbook, might as well just give them a nebula subscription

[@CBielski87]

@@Spartan-sz7km disgusting that he'd call social security a "pyramid scheme" in the same video in which he propagandizes and cherry pick statistics in support of "help for the greater good"

[@Allen-qs2xr]

Id like that.

[@TheMandinotan]

We actually do lol. It’s called SkillsFuture. All Singaporeans are given $500 when we’ve reached the age of 25. We can use it to learn stuff. An educated citizen is is more productive, this a higher ROI for the GDP

[@Highwind79]

And becos of covid, it was top up even more for many, esp the older workers. We also have massively subsidies to many courses, up to 95% although they will be dropping soon. However, there are also many courses that are offered for free ( although these are mostly just for knowledge and not for competency, something I wish the govt can take a better look into). However, becos of the govt willingness to dish out dollars for training, many, both trainers and trainees, have game the system to milk its dollars. Still, I hope the scheme can continue and be refine.

[@wormsblink2887]

> “When the government runs a budget surplus” Westerners: what’s a budget surplus?

[@lightspeeder]

It is when you charge people tons of money for COE, ERP, ABSD and more.. Not forgetting the investment returns from Temasek and GIC, the HDB sold to peasants "at cost" etc..

[@milomhoek]

There are a lot of western countries with a surplus

[@blender6426]

@@lightspeeder shhhh budget surplus for future generations!11!!1!!1!!1

[@brokkoliomg6103]

*Germany has entered the chat*

[@Kuolonen]

Africans: What's budget?

[@aristhotle]

As a Singaporean who has the misfortune of having a slew of health problems at a young age, I just wanna caveat some of the points made. (1) The healthcare iron triangle definitely still exists here. In Singapore, the waiting time is only slightly better than a fully-subsidised healthcare system. I've always had to wait six months to over a year for major specialist appointments, but I am aware the waiting time is even longer e.g. in the NHS where patients don't have to pay anything out of pocket. The wait was despite doctors highlighting to the hospitals the urgency of some of my conditions, and as a result treatment got delayed. (2) Price information is freely available for procedures, but not for drugs. I also feel rather suspect about the supposed generous subsidies the government provides for medication, because a quick search in US pharmacy chains reveals that the 50 - 90% 'subsidized' price I pay for some of my medications is merely the actual price even in a country where healthcare is exorbitant.

[@gohanssj48]

Thanks for the perspective.

[@dinghy4760]

@Paya Chinglish : quote me one country, where everyone dies rich. Seriously, are you sure you're from planet Earth?

[@lzh4950]

Yup some pharmaceuticals in Singapore are known to be more expensive e.g. my father found Caltrate calcium supplements were cheaper in Australia, a bottle of rainforest shampoo that costs S$16.90 at a local The Body Shop meanwhile costs €6 in Köln/Cologne. Heard a reason is that Singapore's offers more IP protection e.g. unlike neighbouring countries it doesn't have laws overriding the patents of some medicines IIRC, so their pricing isn't as controlled I think. Milk powder has also become expensive (S$50-80/tin) that the government has setup a task force to look into the matter. On the flip side I guess, the country also has also managed to attract various pharmaceutical companies e.g. Sanofi, Abbott, MSD/Merck to set up production & R&D facilities here

[@csy897]

Yes, the diagnosis takes time, so what I do is I go private to get a diagnosis, get warded within a week at a public hospital, claim for pre-hospitalization benefit, then downgrade to subsidised class to ensure my outpatient fees are subsidised. Once you're diagnosed and in the system, you don't need to wait that long. You need to get a better insurance agent to navigate these things for you

[@dr3357]

@@csy897 needing a "insurance agent" sounds like its a system thats not quite fit for everybody ;)

[@astroch]

Singapore: Heavily regulated to ensure competition. American: that aint right

[@emZee1994]

He worded it in a misleading way. When economists use the word regulation it means something different to how legal scholars use it. In terms of the law the free market requires we regulate certain behaviours. Like punishing theives and banning the sale of slaves lol So Singapore doesn't regulate their market to keep it free, they just have a high standard of the rule of law. This form of "regulation" is not the type that economists warn against

[@liberator101]

@@emZee1994 which is why Enonomists are not good leaders.

[@haripetrov1289]

@@liberator101 Wdym?

[@Fals3Agent]

americans be like "get government out of medicare!"

[@haripetrov1289]

@@Fals3Agent These regulations are first, on insurance companies, second these heavy regulations are held more to the laws that exist in many countries against criminal behavior, not the regulations that are put on top of companies, but anyway. Also, did you miss the part of the video where it was said that by making is somewhat private if not the bigger part of it, hospitals kept their costs down? Or you cherry pick just one thing?

[@jacobbranker159]

I once got laughed out of a classroom for posturing that social security needed to be re-evaluated while attending a top-tier business school in the United States. It felt beyond satisfying to hear you call it a pyramid scheme. Thank you sir.

[@ahadumer418]

Dude people depend on social security like the old and the disabled and me my dad died when I was 16 and because of that I qualified for social security survivor benefits which kept lights on

[@32Rats]

@@ahadumer418 Yeah but the system has big flaws. It was pitched like it's a savings account that you pay into until you are eligible to take out, but thats now how it actually works. If everyone became unemployed or there suddenly wasn't enough younger people paying enough into it then the system would collapse. It doesn't actually save any money for your future, which is why every few years it's discussed whether or not to raise the wage to make up for any deficits. Im not saying its a bad or negative system, it's incredibly helpful to millions. The only problem is it's not nearly robust as it seems, and it can collapse if the bottom of the pyramid cant pay into it enough.

[@kyh148]

Yeah. In a pyramid scheme, new investors’ money is used to pay earlier investors, while the new investors are promised to get great returns on investment. In Social Security, young people pay so the old people can get money, while they’re being promised to get money when they’re old. Social Security is literally a government-mandated pyramid scheme. And when the population stops growing, it’ll all collapse.

[@joma5721]

@@mikem4481 “how it used to be” Ah yes, the good old days of child labour and workers literally going to war with their employers because they were abused. 🤡🤡🤡

[@TheCulturedThug]

​@@ahadumer418 Are you still 16? You seem utterly incapable of seriously engaging with the subject under discussion.

[@ShortHax]

Here to subjectively compare every country to America

[@TheCreeperTrack1]

I’ll be the obnoxious European that likes to dunk on America

[@velucadhirim6725]

I wish America wasn't overweight or obese. That helps with preventing health problems.

[@CarterHancock]

@@velucadhirim6725 Yeah that's very true. People like to compare tiny countries to the 3rd most populous in the world and point and laugh as if it's a good comparison. There are many factors at play.

[@dY5FUNCT10N4L]

@@CarterHancock Haha you guys are fat! Go for a run chubby!!!

[@alexanderkamisarchuk1790]

@@CarterHancock Yeah, the US has more people per Capita ;)

[@60secondfinance81]

Next Video on Wendover Productions: How Singapore Solved Bad Airports

[@krishnamaggarwal9167]

Likely. They have best airport in world. Changi airport.

[@alexandernikolo4631]

He's gonna spend 50% of the video complaining about Newark Airport XD.

[@frenchpaddy2111]

@@alexandernikolo4631 you don't say...

[@PrograError]

Ha joke's on ya we only have one true international airport (the other is more regional)

[@IchWillNicht0119]

@@krishnamaggarwal9167 It sucks that one of the first international airports I've been to is Changi. It's hard to have high expectations for succeeding airports knowing you've been to the very best already.

[@Atombender]

Q: How does Singapore's healthcare system work? A: Yes.

[@ziairwilliams1540]

Singapore is just "watch me" personified

[@somethung8188]

My country who lives longer with an inferior heathcare system: *Laughs*

[@suchismitamondal1566]

@@somethung8188 which one is it?

[@big_changus4905]

@@suchismitamondal1566 the one with out of coffin president

[@PhiloSurfer]

@@suchismitamondal1566 yes

[@wangwenda1395]

I'm a Singaporean here. Thank you for covering our healthcare system. It's truly one of the most unique combination in the world; in how the costs are kept in check and the quality is one of the best, even in public hospitals. Every public hospital here operates like a private hospital, with the ability to charge their own fees and manage their own staff. However, they are owned by a parent company: MOH Holdings, a subsidiary of the government. Every hospital here, including public ones make a profit, but it isn't much, with a net profit margin of 1-2% for public hospitals, some hospitals even less. When you get warded, you're presented with a bill estimate, and get to choose your ward, of course with the mentioned means testing. Despite the class of ward, most quality of care are the same. In C and B2(subsidized class), you will be assigned a more junior doctor if your condition isn't severe first, a senior doctor with more experience will be assigned upon worsening of the condition, if the condition worsens even more, the public hospital may engage a doctor from the private healthcare sector, all charged at the same fee. In unsubsidized wards(A and B1), you get to choose your own doctors. Of course, there's some cosmetic difference between the wards, subsidized do not get air conditioning and the unsubsidized does, along with your own room in A class. The other difference is in the wait time for a follow up appointment upon discharged. Unsubsidized wards get a 1-2 days wait time while the subsidized gets 5-8 days. For the hospital bill, feel free to divide the cost for the equivalent procedure in an American hospital by a factor of 10, even assuming you stayed in the most expensive ward of a public hospital(A class). As another gauge of thumb, our emergency room charges a fee of US$90 for Singapore citizens and US$250 for foreigners.

[@lzh4950]

Will add that public hospitals here are now legally "resturctured hospitals"; they're semi public organisations with some autonomy from one another, though previously they were less so. Then it became more fragmented; originally they were all managed by either 1 of 2 government-linked organisations: SingHealth (in eastern & central Singapore) & Nat'l Healthcare Group (NHG) (everywhere else), but then more organisations started being hived out e.g. Eastern Health Alliance hived out from SingHealth to manage Changi General Hospital (CGH), Nat'l University Health System hived out from NHG to manage Nat'l University Hospital, while Alexandra Health was also formed to manage Alexandra & Khoo Teck Puat Hospitals. Then new organisations were formed to each manage a newly-built hospital: JurongHealth for Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Sengkang Health for Sengkang General Hospital. Since then they've been re-consolidated back into 3 organisations though: NHG, SingHealth & NUHS, & I guess 1 advantage is that innovations in 1 hospital can be spread more easily to others. Some hospitals get pretty crowded, so 1 of them (CGH) tried encouraging outpatients to visit general practitioners (GP) instead. However I guess 1 concern is that if a GP patient is later referred to a public hospital, he/she is legally disqualified from public subsidies at the hospital, as he/she is referred there by a private rather than a public entity (the GP)

[@wangwenda1395]

@@lzh4950 With regards to the GP issue, most GPs do inform the patient that if referred directly to a healthcare institution, they will be charged under private fees. Alternatively, the patient could walk in to either the emergency department of the hospital they would want to go to, or get a referral from a polyclinic. Even if you get referred from a GP, you are disqualified from subsidies for only that ailment you're seeking treatment on, not on all other health appointments.

[@darrenclloo]

To Polymatter, as a Singaporean I appreciate a well researched article that tries to explain a system that most countries should if they could, emulate to bring about a better life for their citizens, if they would only try. My compliments to you. However it's so disappointing to see so many netizens here readily say that it would never work in their country without giving it a go. You are defeated before you even got to the door. Some say that Singapore being a rich country, using about 4% of it's GDP is not the same as compared to a place like Yemen using 4% of theirs. True but you missed the fact that Singapore did not start off rich. It took a lot of hard work and good governance by all Singaporeans for the last 56 years after independence to get to where we are. Some also say that it would never work for a large country and we were lucky that Singapore is geographically so small and that is why things work so well they do. Has anyone heard of Rwanda, an African country wrecked by civil war, where a million citizens were hacked to death in a little over 5 weeks, probably a hundred times the size of Singapore? Well, their present leader decided that he would try to emulate the successful policies of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew), to bring his country out of the devastation that civil war caused, for the last 20 years. I hear Rwanda is doing pretty well now, much better than all the surrounding African countries. They are showing the will to try, to better every citizens lives. I just hope you do too.

[@concernedcitizens4110]

The size of a country does not determine success. I mean look at Eswatini or Equatorial Guinea they are small countries but horrendously govern.

[@guacre2675]

Next episode: *How Singapore solved the meaning of life*

[@casserol2202]

life is 6 figures a condo and 2 kids in SEP school 🤗

[@liu8677]

endless competition for resources lol

[@shawnli9284]

Singapore solved China

[@FabioTheGreat]

By Lee Kuan Yew.

[@SerenityM54L2SAM5L5N1]

By the state maintaining the right moral values, paving the way for a happy and healthy life, caring for the unified collective in front of the individual, and implementing what it takes to create the most prosperous life with the highest living standards. Wish I could move there, or at least reshape my own country based on the Singaporean model.

[@MrMediator24]

"Tightly regulated to ensure competition" *Americans screaming in confusion*

[@EllisPedersen]

Screams in Netherlands

[@flakgun153]

United States' does the complete opposite. Hospitals are actually forbidden from competing with each other as part of the ACA. The regulations here are designed to protect the industry's profits, not to protect the consumer

[@aniseedus]

Yeah I was wondering the same. How does that work?

[@Xob_Driesestig]

@@aniseedus It's already hinted at in it in the video, but the more general answer is that markets will, without regulation to prevent it, become more inefficient over time (due to factors like monopolization, collusion, product bundeling, predatory pricing etc)

[@tagheuerwoods6241]

Republican Joe : But but big government can't be positive for people

[@danboy12342]

As a Singaporean now teaching I think I'll try to get these videos shown in class, well done

[@parmeetsingh7027]

Imagine being the leader of a country and still having to go to another country to seek medical care, that's just embarassing

[@jahangirmehta3997]

Lol you havent seen india then. Here they will promote bs like religious healings or cow dung and piss and ayurved and when shit hits their fan politicians runs to AIIMS one of the best allopathy hospital in our country and even world or go to developed nations while common citizens are left to lookout for themselves or die tryin.

[@Steel0079]

@@jahangirmehta3997 he is Indian.

[@gohanssj48]

@@Steel0079 Which doesn't mean nothing. His parents could be from the Diaspora and he can't even speak hindi.

[@sunghwanpark2799]

Kudos to Singapore! NO WONDER the western countries are looking EAST towards Singapore, S.Korea, Japan, Taiwan and so on. Asia is advancing super fast in IT, healthcare, cinema/dramas etc. Seems like the West is learning from Asia rather than the other way around.

[@Steel0079]

@@gohanssj48 since there are over a billion indians, i will take my chances

[@KageNoTenshi]

First time I went to Singapore, Lee died, never knew who he was before that, actually went to a memorial museum that was held because he passed that week, and he drives the price up for the rest of the week of my stay at the sands, so I did not have a good first impression of him, and the guy already died, but the more I get to see the systems for Singapore, the more I come to see the man was a genius and amazed at the city he was able to build from dirt,

[@arphmd]

Singaporean-Americans when they got sick: *Goes back to Singapore*

[@PapaphobiaPictures]

As an Australian, every time I've gone to the US I get insurance for emergency care but if I needed something serious I'd just get a ticket back to Australia

[@easonl.4696]

singapore doesn’t recognise dual citizenship when one turns 21 though

[@iirquhs]

@@easonl.4696 Singaporeans holding a green card

[@davidliu2243]

*dies on the 20 hour flight back*

[@ianlim9937]

as one myself i can attest that this is true. oh the amount of medications i brought back with me each trip from singapore

[@iafozzac]

You forgot a pretty big factor in your analysis, geography Singapore is a single city, which makes logistic easier and competition fiercer, both things that help drive down the costs for the patients

[@alexandernikolo4631]

He did actually pointed it out in the Nebula version uwu.

[@albiesnyder412]

@aadhi gei I do *dabs on you*

[@alveolate]

the size is really the most important factor tho. along with how firmly the govt has control over the minutia of almost everything. it is literally impossible to pull a medical scam in singapore - the rule of law has an iron grip and the penalties are severe. basically, the govt draws a straight and narrow line for you, and you follow it.

[@BearMeOut]

Singapore got lucky, they have a benevolent dictator. Usually when the people on the top have this much power, the system start rotting very fast.

[@user-bx9nu8bt5e]

Your point on Singapore’s geography is absolutely a fact. It is indeed smaller, one of the smallest even! In fact, when pitted up against any other nation, it’s almost obtuse to point out Singapore’s size. That said, just because she had geography on her side, does not mean that all small nations fare well in providing affordable and equitable healthcare. It boils down to governance. Good governance is one in spite of a nation’s acreage.

[@lm1338]

A program that you are using to make the video is doing "Dynamic Range Compression" on your voice recording. If you can find it and remove it, it will sound much better.

[@gcbalteran166]

Oh so that's what it was? I was honestly so scared my buds were dying or something lol

[@lm1338]

(If it's done intentionally, then just do much less of it. It's recommended to look up parameters or to use preset parameters because it's very hard to do by ear without experience)

[@whistletoe]

I didn't even notice lol probably bc my laptop speaker is so shitty

[@homeofsports3295]

@@whistletoe I can relate

[@emptyangel]

Singapore's organ donor system is really interesting as well. It uses an opt-out system, "Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) allows for the kidneys, heart, liver and corneas to be removed, for the purpose of transplantation, in the event of death from any cause. HOTA covers all Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents 21 years old and above, who are not mentally disordered, unless they have opted out". The interesting thing is, if you opt-out, you get lower priority for organ transplant should you need one in the future.

[@anshumaanphukan4388]

Recently went to Singapore for an internship at NUS, and was simply amazed at the infrastructure this country has to offer. It was truly beautiful and the people were very kind as well. Hopefully my country will one day be like Singapore.

[@redhidinghood9337]

This video is SO well researched. You are one of a kind YT channel

[@getpriyanka]

I got hospitalised in the National Hospital Of Singapore back when I was 6. And damn, the hospital ward I stayed at, was better than the hotels I have been to. In fact, when I was supposed to return home, 6 year old me loved it so much, I refused to do so. Thats the kind of healthcare they have. They make a kid feel so comfortable, he wants to stay. That was 8 years ago, and I gotta say, I remember it like it was yesterday

[@ThamizhanDaa1]

So you're only 14 years old? You're still a kid lol 😆

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

Remember kids, Singaporeans solutions were meant to solve Singaporeans problems, don't think this solutions would work in your respective countries

[@churblefurbles]

Indeed, the canings would be so severe the patient wouldn't survive.

[@csy897]

True, but the principle works. "Find what works and do it". Rinse and repeat. Don't stop. There's a saying in Mandarin. If you stop peddling, the currents will push you down the river. So you've got to keep working for it.

[@MonkOrMan]

Why does this work better in Singapore?

[@hxsm8090]

@@MonkOrMan not better. its geographically easy. It's ok right now. like Hong kong used to have similar healthcare. Look where it is now lol.

[@ruthlim8184]

@@MonkOrMan When you up your expenditures you prolly cannot go down anymore. If the people are used to a welfare state, they kinda resist to go back to a non welfare state. One of Singapore’s advantage is it was a 3rd world country and a more blank canvas to build back then. There are references but cannot copy head to head.

[@i2cybeast]

During the height of Covid-19, The government subsidised the cost for patients who were suffering from flu-like symptoms and/or cough at a local GP. Normally it’d cost $30-40 SGD inclusive of medicine and consultation. But in 2020 it was only $10.

[@JoelJames2]

“Could this work in America?” Short Answer: “No”. Long Answer: “Hahahahahaha, no.”

[@Roboman1807]

The people will mostly likely riot against the idea of CPF, being forced to pay. But we Singaporeans see this as a move that benefits everyone. Why complain?

[@stopthis7158]

@@Roboman1807 because conservatives hate anything that doesn't directly affect them

[@otter124]

“Hahahaha *no* “

[@pigmoonk2545]

@@Roboman1807 Singaporeans thinks CPF benefits them ? You sure bo!? Having a fever?

[@Roboman1807]

@@pigmoonk2545 Well, I personally believe in it. So does my grandfather. I am sorry if I have incorrectly assumed ALL Singaporeans feel the same way.

[@adit1682]

5:50 Just a small feedback, the employee and employer contributions are labelled incorrectly. For below 55, the employee contributes 20% while employer contributes 17%.

[@jamestucker8088]

I have been to a health clinic in SIN. It was great. I was the only patient. I only had to fill out a single page form and then walked into the next room to see a doctor. While I was being examined he had someone fill my prescription so when I paid my bill I got my medicine at the same time. I didn't have to take a stupid prescription and go find a pharmacist to fill it. I was in and out in less than 1/2 hour.

[@share_accidental]

yes, it’s normal in singapore to get your medicine at the clinic directly. as a singaporean, i was shocked that people in other countries have to go to pharmacies to get their medication. sometimes, i think us singaporeans are a bit spoilt!

[@rinima858]

Singapore, the city with streets that look so clean and innovative it's like straight out of Cities Skylines

[@kozuki7]

Westworld season 3 used Singapore as its backdrop for this very reason. Those aren't custom-built sets or CGI you're watching!

[@Dorgpoop]

Not my city in city skylines, that looks like shit

[@RacingS2000]

Oh wait but we have people here saying, if you think Singapore is advanced look at China

[@PrograError]

@@kozuki7 well... To be frank that's the CBD you are literally watching ... Most other places looks like a more over designed Soviet housing that's more shaped then a brick block. Tho at least amenities are relatively close and the blocks ain't grey... (Blocks are repainted almost every 10 years or so)

[@waffelo4681]

Hmm wdym by Innovative tho?

[@pinkipromise]

daily hospital stay at class c ward is $30. MRI scan only cost $180 out of pocket. Class c now also have Aircon and wifi

[@Poptropica07]

"Is it public or private?" "Yes." Singapore in a nutshell - Pragmatism at it's maximum on a governmental level.

[@Je.rone_]

singapore's health system is fascinating to me

[@ihavetowait90daystochangem67]

We have to learn our Healthcare system in our social studies class, I hate it I find it so boring

[@Adanjakub]

I saw you on berkshire annual meetings. Good luck,brother

[@alveolate]

it's also extremely complex and difficult to explain to older folks who don't speak english. and for all the transparency on the billing side, there is little to no transparency on the medical treatment side. if someone dies or is hurt by misdiagnosis or malpractice, it is extremely difficult to get recompense or even an investigation.

[@liu8677]

@@ihavetowait90daystochangem67 True. Social study's damn boring

[@PrograError]

@@liu8677 wait till you learn about the NHS and how the textbook just shit on it...

[@thirdcoffee]

Personally as a German I really like our healthcare system. Sure it's also not perfect but far better than many other healthcare systems on the world. As someone with chronic diseases and not a welcoming family I would be poor in the USA & Singapore.

[@mushmush4980]

Yes, I feel that Singapore's model is too unique to be a catch all system. It was built for a relatively wealthy island nation, which wouldn't translate well to a western philosophy guided continental nation that varies as economically as the US. Sure, I'm not German, but I'd say your system would fit so much better for Americans.

[@happyundertaker6255]

@@mushmush4980 Genaaau!

[@locusgaudi]

Can you describe how German healthcare system works in a nutshell? As far as i understand from your answer, your healthcare covers completely the treatment of some of the chronic diseases. How does it do that? Healthcare tax? Is it progressive or fixed? I'm curious.

[@newcoc8067]

@@locusgaudi google it man. Germany has insurance for all. 60 to 80 regulated corporations compete

[@thirdcoffee]

@@locusgaudi Every citizen in Germany is required to have a health insurance! There are two more or less seperate systems in Germany. First: There are around 100 public health insurance organizations (Gesetzliche Krankenkassen). These are strong regulated private organizations. They do not make a profit with their service, they get their money partly from their members and partly from the state. You can switch between on a bi-yearly basis. The german goverment decides a "general contribution rate". Currently 14.6% of your income. On top of this every health insurance organization can charge an additional rate if they want to (currently between 0.3% and 1.5%). Both of these fees/rates are splitted up evenly between employee and employer. There's an catalogue from the ministry of health with treatments / vaccinations / prevention screenings etc. every public health insurance organization has to offer (without any additional charge). This assures that every "medical needed treatment" is covered. Psychological treatments included. (I'm insured publicly and in therapy for 4 years now.) And rollators for the old. And wheelchairs. etc. But nothing too luxurious - especially if it comes to teeths of adults you need to pay. As a member of a "Krankenkasse" you get a credit-card sized insurance card. If you go to the doctor / to the COVID vaccination the personnel puts your card into a reading device and your used treatments are automatically registered at your health insurance. You do not have to pay (in advance)! The public health insurance organizations also have to take every citizen as a member whether they're healthy or not. Second: There's some real private health insurance companies. Much like in the USA they can charge what they want and decide on what they care for. But only in rare cases it's cheaper then staying in the public health insurance. (More than 90% of german citizens are member of a public insurance). Also: You only can insure yourself privately if you're a student or you earn more than ~64k€ a year to ensure you're capable to pay for the higher rates. Sure, this gives you some advantages: often you get faster to a special doctor (e.g. dermatologist) & you can get a 1-bed room in a hospital. Or your insurance covers more/everything of teeth healthcare. But it's nothing too crazy. You also have problems because you have to pay in advance for every treatment you receive & then get the money back from your private insurance. Sometimes even for surgeries (some thousand euros). Last: If you have an emergency and you call an ambulance you get treated the same. Sure they ask you for your insurance card. And if you're privately insured you receive an invoice but you just give it straight to your insurance. Also we have something (I think) special here in Europe/Germany: If you need a doctor today but it's not life threatening you don't go into the emergency room in a hospital, you call the "medical readiness service". If you can't leave your house anymore (e.g. old people etc.) the doctor drives to you and treats you. If you can move you can go to a "standby doctor's office". These are opened 7-days a week at the evening til ~11 PM. It's a service from the public health insurance. Also: with no additional charges. Competition: Because there are over 100 public health insurance organizations and they can take an individual additional fee they can decide individually on extra services and treatments to offer to their members additional to the goverment catalogue. Often these are massages, visits in spas, prevention screenings (e.g. against cancer) or just bonus programs (e.g. you get 100€ if you can prove you're vaccinated with the most needed vaccines, did go to the dentist 2-times last year & don't smoke). But (public insurance): There are additional fees! As I said previously e.g. you have to pay at the dentist if you're an adult and you want a tooth filling in a molar tooth with this plastic filling instead of Amalgan. Or if you want you're wisdom teeths removes in general anaesthesia instead of local (unless if youre anxious, then the insurance will pay for it.). And some vaccines needed e.g. to visit tropical countries aren't payed for. Also: If you're over 18 you pay 10€ a day if you lay in a hospital. But limited to 28 days (280€) a year. Also: If you get a prescription from your doctor and you're over 18 you have to pay a co-payment. Medication below 5€ are payed only by the patient. Also prescription-free drugs. For medication over 5€ you have to make a co-payment of 10% of the medication price. (at least 5€, at max 10€). Also there are many exceptions to this e.g. if you have a chronic disease (and need some prescription-free drugs for the therapy etc.) you can make an request to your insurance to get excluded from these co-payments. Mind: You can only get drugs in Germany in pharmacies. If you need to visit a pharmacy during the night because it's urgent you usually pay 2.50€ of "emergency service fee". To finish it: there's a hard limit you have to pay for of extra fees / co-payments (every extra fee) in the public insurance: 2% of your yearly income before taxes, 1% of you have a chronic disease. Then you can make a request (Yes always much paperwork here in Germany :D) and get excluded from any of these fees.

[@foodchomperrr]

Seeing a primary care doctor takes 2 hour MAX. In polyclinics, under 18 YO, $6.90 consultation fee, above is around $15. Being so blessed, it's understandable some still complain about it

[@mohamed_is_him]

I am sudanese and my mother is a radiologist, she works in a private hospital and in public one. The wages in the public hospitals are so low that she sometimes forgets to claim it and just works charity. Hell she can't fill up her gas tank for week for a full month of work's paycheck

[@diratoba]

This shows the best way is price transparency. I am baffled how here in the US is literally impossible to know how much something will cost, not even the hospital or doctor can give you a price and you only know the price of doctor visit or a procedure when you get the bill

[@harveylin3548]

It's almost like when you practice according to the true and real practice of free markets, stuff works, hmm.....

[@ThreeRunHomer]

Yes, price transparency and comparisons work great to hold down costs, but notice that the Singapore government had to force the medical providers to be transparent on prices. Being “hands off” isn’t good enough, the government has to regulate aspects like price transparency.

[@brazni]

it might be an advantage to be a city state when considering equality and efficiency, compared to tryin to offer the same health care over a large country with a not so dense population.

[@F22onblockland]

usually good ideas on a smaller level can be scaled, sometimes successfully sometimes not. If in the U.S. for instance you would probably want to incentivize states to adopt a new healthcare system through federal incentives. Usually things start out in the U.S. at state level and spread until there's enough support for federal action. This is overgeneralized and oversimplified but that's usually the way things have to get done in the U.S. baring a major war where the Federal government usually has the power to act unilaterally.

[@tim333y7]

Yeah I was thinking the same everything is just much more efficient in a city than in a large country with citizens spread over a much larger area than just a single and even a big city which makes it even more efficient

[@Ermude10]

Oh for sure! But that should mostly be about access to healthcare, not the actual market economical system and funding of healthcare. How the government regulates prices and fund distribution to the population and the industry itself shouldn't be largely affected I think.

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

But ultimately even in a larger country the system would be partially localized and differ slightly between different regions. countries like Sweden manages decently with an extremely sparsely located population, for example.

[@AureliusLaurentius1099]

@@F22onblockland That is what the US was meant to operate. States and local government operate day to day management and needs of its people such as education, healthcare, policing,etc. while the Feds operate marco stuff like war, foreign trade, etc. The reason why politics is so toxic today is that people think that the federal government should do all the stuff that it realistically cannot

[@RealTarekAhmed]

Interesting that San Marino are the highest for life expectancy, amongst some of the world's elites.

[@whistletoe]

I had no idea it was even a country. Interesting for sure.

[@francescoazzoni3445]

They are basically a monaco in the italian countryside

[@Keean_TTRealm]

Me as a Singaporean seeing a video with ‘Singapore’: *clicks* 😎🇸🇬

[@KingHayabusa384]

Same here, although I'm not from Singapore.

[@davasg96]

My fellow Singaporeans…

[@Think_Inc]

That flag emoji’s size has to be increased. I can barely see the moon on it and thought you had chosen the wrong flag.

[@TheGoukaruma]

Is the video correct?

[@LenCpotato]

Hey more Singaporeans 😁🇸🇬

[@busybeenick]

Great video, I'm Singaporean btw. One thing is clear: Singapore is moving towards a more universal/redistributive model and I suspect that this will be the trend for the foreseeable future. The video pointed out that medishield was introduced in 1990. What is also noteworthy is that medishield coverage was expanded in 2013 resulting in the current medishield life. Why? Probably because of the aging population. While our healthcare system is commendable and is often lauded as cost-efficient, there are actually many hidden costs. First many people in Singapore purchase their own private healthcare insurance policies. On this point, we have also not entirely managed to avoid rising insurance costs especially for integrated shield plans. It remains to be seen whether the rate of premium increases will be sustainable. This is a hidden cost that is of course not accounted for in the government's healthcare spending as a proportion of gdp. Next, another hidden cost borne by citizens is the fact that medishield life (the most basic scheme) does not cover pre and post-hospitalization expenses. This is a huge issue for people with long-term health problems such as cancer and diabetes.

[@demonetization6596]

I remember breaking my arm and because I always thought it was expensive due to Americans talking about healthcare online, I cried because I thought it would cost my parents a lot, not that my arm was literally in broken in half. When we got the bill, the bill was about 200 for some reason.

[@88djdmepfdnkjf94]

Nice work but audio error at 5:39 you missed muting a layer

[@anarghyasumanth8590]

2030: How Singapore ran out of things to solve

[@Princess_Pear]

Let's be honest that you'd be hard pressed to find any country with a clean HR record. How you evaluate it is dependent on from where you stand. What you value, what you'd consider to be worth it. I can see and respect that you don't think it's worth it, but possibly not everyone.

[@JC-uz3ey]

@Xyon 21 free speech is overrated.

[@Princess_Pear]

Not to agree or disagree, but to a certain degree, complete freedom of speech doesn't exist. Even in countries that expound it, common shared "values" and "beliefs" or socially accepted norms makes it very difficult to exercise freedom of ALL speech. Should it be allowed? Or is it more important to make an attempt to move in that direction? I'd say with the advent of social media, especially Facebook, Twitter, and KZbin, the alternative voices are coming out of the woodwork. While we should be careful of the genie that can't come out of the bottle, there is merit to the point that meritocracies only work if all educated and well thought out ideas are given the floor to debate. However, don't forget that Singapore does allow free elections and the People have made their stance through votes. That freedom is still afforded to all.

[@Banom7a]

aiyah dont worry lah, they'll make own problem lol

[@shao2307]

​@Xyon 21 Well Singaporean here. Honestly media and free speech are not big problems here, most of us don't see it as the most pressing problem to solve. Media wise we have access to most online sites and are free to make up our own minds. The fact that I can read your comment shows dissenting voices are not silenced. They do track what sites you visit though, so if you visit terrorist related sites like IS** do expect a knock on your door. As for free speech, you can oppose the government but you have to make sure everything you say is factual and documented properly. It stops people from running wild with conspiracies and fake news, which makes sense in this post truth world. The big problems we are facing? High costs of living, extreme stress and competition from childhood to adulthood, food and water security concerns. There are people working on these problems but they've not been solved well yet.

[@antisocialtaco1255]

This taught me moee about the Singapore Healthcare System than my entire Social Study syllabus

[@lktzu2821]

Wow. Thank you for this. It is always refreshing to see how others view Singapore's healthcare system. For us locals I'd say we take this for granted unless we actually see such comparisons with other countries.

[@luciferbo65]

I dunno other countries, just to compare my birth country Indonesia which sucks to the core of good hospitals, my father was in icu in a few private hospitals in Jakarta and none can even detected what's wrong with him, non stop hiccups, until I flew back from spore and arranged to privately flew him to Glen Eagle hospital spore, I contacted their rep in Jakarta, they arranged private jet, hospital, icu, everything very fast and efficient, flew the next day, with 1 doct standby inside the plane, landed in Spore with the bed standby on landing spot, private custom check, ambulance ready, reach Glen Eagle the doctor and nurse alrdy standby at lobby, everything was so smooth, time efficient, icu room is ready, only a few min doctor and nurses attached all the pipes etc, his hiccups stopped. I know it's not cheap but it worked. We paid private hospitals in Jakarta, changed a few hospitals, icu also, cost a lot also, with zero result for weeks.

[@FiNiTe_weeb]

I feel like this is how capitalism is supposed to work, the companies optimize as usual, and the government ensures that optimization is in the right direction.

[@acctsys]

More of not going in a bad direction, but I get it.

[@xerogue]

Or in other words: Chinese capitalism

[@raptorfromthe6ix833]

east asian economic models are subjectively superior to other models such as american or even nordic model

[@charlesmadre5568]

@@raptorfromthe6ix833 "East Asian economic models" what a generalization right there. China, Mongolia, North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau at least are all in "East Asia". These economic models are quite different from each other clearly.

[@boarfaceswinejaw4516]

the problem isnt capitalism, and never has been. the problem is unregulated capitalism that isnt built around a social national framework., when individuals can run circles around governments with their billions of dollars, twisting and turning the screws of a country with their unfathomable wealth.

[@ollie3x10_8]

I feel that the comparison as a proportion of GDP isn't completely fair, as Singapore has quite a high GDP per capita compared to the UK, Germany, and definitely compared to third world countries.

[@thibautnarme6402]

The relation between GDP, GDP p. capita and healthcare spending/GDP is not very clear though. You would expect healthcare spending to go up as people get richer (more available income to finally get yourself fixed up).On the other hand as you point it's possible that past this point (once you're fixed up) the share of healthcare spending compared to available income might stagnate or go down (as extra income is directed toward other type of consumption).

[@ollie3x10_8]

@@thibautnarme6402 exactly, far better imo is to measure efficiency in terms of money to outcomes, which he somewhat does later in the video.

[@nilsfischer2626]

@@ollie3x10_8 yeah you‘re right, if you look at other countries with a high gdp per capita they all don‘t spend much on healthcare. For example Quatar‘s healthcare spending is at 2.5% of their GDP. (data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?locations=QA)

[@xBris]

It gets worse if you keep in mind that Singapore is a city state that's highly reliant on its financial sector. That skews the GDP figures greatly and makes this video completely pointless. In term of healthcare spending per capita in PPP$ Singapore ranks 20th most expensive country in the world - relatively en par with most of the EU. For the western world, only the US remains a very expensive outlier if you look for actual spending per capita.

[@teerificbitch]

@@xBris Wait that made this video useless? you talking out your arse? 16min vid and you only bitching about one factor? You didnt even have the balls to mention the average quality of healthcare that EU pay for what they get. And GDP aside, Singapore is achieving this with one of the lowest income & corp taxes in the world. Walk into a public hospital in Sg, then walk into a public one in Uk, Italy or France. I raise you one further. I bet public hospitals in SG are better equipped and maintained than 90% of private hospitals in EU. Are those outliers too?

[@Matok1]

This system wouldn't get the most profit for the medical industry in the US, and would pretty much put the medial insurance industry as we know it out of business. It would also eliminate the 'work or die' message that tying health care coverage to employment sends to all working Americans, which is a 'motivator' to get people to take jobs they don't like. Which is why it won't happen. Politicians that can make policy changes are bought by the lobbyists for these industries, and they're nice and comfy where they are sitting above the rest of us, and aren't concerned with what doesn't personally impact them.

[@MotivationVault]

I've been born and lived here my entire live. I really love this country and what you've said but there've also been a ton of people that couldn't afford healthcare especially at an older age. Obviously it's dependent on the situation and severity but yeah it ain't all sunshines and rainbows here. But yeah if you aren't facing any severe health issues it's definitely cheap for the quality of healthcare you receive! Lucky to be living here!

[@WorthlessWinner]

it definitely seems like the "iron triangle" of equal access vs cost vs quality still exists in Singapore, and they prioritized the latter 2 (I just got back from some free NHS surgery in the UK)

[@TECHN01200]

Something I noticed in all those statistics you showed at the beginning is that Hong Kong ranked better than Singapore.

[@greymatter08]

Except for Healthcare cost compared to GDP.

[@Deady4u]

Hong Kong is now taken over by China so the stats doesn't really matter anymore. Future stats will probably be lies by the CCP anyways

[@BlakeTedKord]

@@charlesmadre5568 you live in China?

[@Dorgpoop]

@@charlesmadre5568 That's essentially the same as the UK. There is private healthcare alongside the NHS, but it's generally not as extensive and is usually meant to compliment care you get with the NHS. We still have the same problem of doctors and nurses leaving the NHS though, usually to work abroad in countries like Australia because they are highly trained but have to work very long hours for less pay than they could get abroad.

[@sen9159]

Hong Kong is a better place in almost all categories. But let's see how China will change that.

[@PresidentialWinner]

This is my favorite channel, along with Auralnauts, Kurzgesagt, ERB, Coldfusion, Alt-Shift X and maybe a few others.

[@bryantay2900]

Nice. I live near one of the hospitals. Looks like PolyMatter did really use the most recent footage of the KTP Hospital!

[@reijisan9852]

Notorious Yishun? 😄

[@PrograError]

@@reijisan9852 yes...

[@iamgreat1234]

That’s mean Polymatter live in Singapore

[@PrograError]

@@iamgreat1234 nope, could be a stock video. There's a really nice pond near the hospital...

[@Tuppoo94]

That thing about different tiers of non-medical services is genious when combined with the fact that pretty much everyone must pay a portion of their bill. It means that the government doesn't have to waste money on providing fancy facilities for people who already rely on government aid, and on the other hand the hospitals can charge significantly more from those who can pay for more comfort. In the end, everyone gets the same primary service, just for a different price. It's just like airlines with Economy and Business Class seats.

[@CharmEng89]

one challenge of all this is that it can feel very complicated navigating and understanding all the different systems. CPF, Medishield, Medisave, Medifund... and tangentially, tax, personal insurance, housing subsidies and so on. I do think they try to make it easier, but it can be daunting for a local to navigate (especially for young people who may not be used to thinking about their future health or financial needs).

[@TonyHanation]

World: So Singapore, what did you do to run your healthcare system so well? Singapore: yes.

[@shmookins]

1:40 Italy is the 4th in the world in healthcare efficiency? Well I'll be dammed.

[@tirompoilrene]

One thing to be proud of is that it's completely free and accessible

[@mushmush4980]

Expected nothing less from a G7 country (well besides the US lol)

[@giannidc1207]

@@tirompoilrene nothing free ? take in account the waste of time, inefficiencies and stupid people..that is not free.. U pay with ur time, hunger, bestemmie and also extra money.

[@tirompoilrene]

@@giannidc1207 bro ma che ti prende, calma eh

[@tirompoilrene]

@@giannidc1207 l'SSN è di competenza regionale, cambia tantissimo da regione a regione. Qua da me funziona tutto bene covid a parte ritardi, sprechi di tempo raramente.

[@Sedonapass]

Just wanna say as a middle class singaporean, its still quite expensive for surgeries but at least we can play w medisave and plans.

[@luxither7354]

With a low Progressive Tax rate that Singapore has, this is honestly a genius way to create a Healthcare system; it ultimately makes it so that the consumer pay but 'taxes' them the amount that they would pay, still making them having to pay it and making them care and minimise the burden they place on the healthcare system, without forcing them into bankruptcy. Introducing a forgiving debt system alongside this, similar to state paid Uni degrees only needing to be paid back after reaching a certain income level and you create an amazing system that create personal responsibility for the individual without crippling them in debt.

[@thibaultlibat368]

"At the cost of the poorest countries in the world" No, we are talking percentage of GDP here, not absolute money. 4% of Singapore's GDP is a lot more than 4% of Sudan's

[@darkmage4648]

I think it was to drive the point that rich countries are spending 10% and over, but SG is spending only 4%. I agree the statement could be phrased better.

[@tzarcoal1018]

@@darkmage4648 well yes, but super rich countries, like singapore all spend less % than "normal rich" countries, just because their economy (per capita) is so much bigger...

[@user-yj4qz5lo6k]

At the cost he means at the cost per capita

[@DefiniteFiction]

It’s a pretty significant misstatement. At a minimum, it distracted me from the message.

[@commentpost907]

The man is an idiot. Thats why he does these arbitrary comparisons.

[@dadiduncan9848]

Next episode: How Singapore solved PolyMatter

[@xlben10]

As a Singaporean, i love the neutral view stance and analysis done for this video. It blew me away

[@shahherwan93]

If there is one thing, Singaporeans regret or miss when migrating, its certainly healthcare.

[@TheBooban]

Singapore is a one passport country. Why on earth would any Singaporean reject their passport?

[@SMB8027G]

@@TheBooban the pace of life in Singapore is hectic. average Singaporeans don't get paid alot and everything is mostly expensive e.g. a public housing flat in Singapore can get u a mansion in US

[@TheBooban]

@@SMB8027G thats true, but if you are in a position where you can buy a house and live in the US, you don’t need to become a US citizen.

[@busybeenick]

maybe not if you moved to scandinavia

[@alexchan4074]

and chicken rice

[@PeakedInterest]

I think there was a slight error when talking about the UK system. It's not free, it's paid for in taxes known as national insurance at a rate of approx 4% of your salary. But the real strength of the system is that as it's government owned and centrally planned big pharma cannot bully our services into accepting exorbitant prices because the NHS can just say no and said pharma loses access to an entire country of people rather than just one hospital. Collective bargaining can solve a large amount of private healthcare systems problems, not all obviously but it is very efficiency at controlling prices for the user.

[@john3260]

Economies of scale at work

[@AverieS820]

12:20 Not true at all in my experience! I was transferred from 'C' to 'A' ward during one hospitalization trip, and the level of care was completely different. In 'C' ward, the nurse/doctor to patient ratio is much higher and it can take quite a while for a patient to be tended to after calling for a nurse, the doctors also seemed generally less experienced and extremely busy. The 'A' ward nurses could tend to patients very quickly after being called and the doctor I was assigned to was much more senior.

[@Transhumn8r]

this actually helped me understand the rationale of my own country's cpf system. good job

[@alexfrank5331]

7:00 Every time I come up with a good/revolutionary idea that sounds too good to be true... Singapore already did it and made it work.

[@shauryachauhan7001]

"Is it private or public?" Polymatter : "Yes"

[@slslbbn4096]

Ah, capitalism with socialist characteristics. Are you surprised that Singapore is also 76% Han Chinese?

[@galactose_fructosemonosacc343]

@@slslbbn4096 wait so that's why I look so different from mainland chinese

[@mwanikimwaniki6801]

@@galactose_fructosemonosacc343 Are you Chinese?

[@hughmungusbungusfungus4618]

I appreciate how you tried to keep your explanation even-handed.

[@williknie9165]

Great to see you Posting your sources

[@pepitomov]

Last time I was this early Singapore was a colony

[@slimeblue3387]

Last time I was this early there was no Singapur

[@pepitomov]

@@slimeblue3387 thanks for the correction mate English is not my first or even second language, will remember that for the future 😄

[@ansumansamal8473]

Love how u handle it..

[@Think_Inc]

@@pepitomov You have pretty good English nonetheless.

[@Linuxield]

@@pepitomov Nice, a Russian recognising our country-

[@jasonmai8695]

I've been to Singapore and lived there for 2 years, it's simply the best country I've ever been to

[@user-ei7ed6zy9k]

Singapore’s method of a healthcare system only works in Singapore.

[@akshaydeshmukh370]

Polymatter is obsessed with Singapore

[@demetriusteh]

Love how this channel is obsessed with Singapore 👀🥺

[@max_galingumas9409]

meanwhile in US you have to pay 1000$ for ambulance ride to hospital

[@AbrahamsYTC]

$1600-2000 in my area lol. Freaking insane. I'd rather risk it and drive myself lmao

[@carlsjr7975]

Thanks biden looters

[@mason-dy6ls]

@@carlsjr7975 ?

[@caster863]

Haha that's sooooo original.

[@max_galingumas9409]

@@AbrahamsYTC you can always get uber

[@lemonandgaming6013]

honestly many people (and governments) care about "being" part of group x or y etc. historically going too far has lead to.. bad results. i have asked my self the question: "we should focus on improving our world, why do we care about a policy being too much x-ist?". i was very happy to see that a country has successfully combined the best of both worlds to create a great healthcare system

[@yanivi363]

So good! Please do one on the education system of Finland! (Or of other countries with unique education systems)

[@matthewkimble964]

Great video as always guys!! Thanks for the amazing work!! Y'all are the best!

[@admiral_hoshi3298]

Why did you leave the audio in on that random clip?

[@jacklogan5524]

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s forced savings specifically for a rainy day.

[@EllisPedersen]

Which we have in the US except you don’t end up getting anything...

[@ignatoseg4664]

Yeah but with subsidiaries based on your income level extra funds if you are poor And $100 per year insurance

[@red_amoguss]

Singaporean here. How the Singapore Government is able to operate an extremely efficient healthcare system is through the Central Providence Fund (CPF) in which depending on your age group, both employer and employee alike must contribute up to the sum of 37% of the employee’s salary in this “retirement / medical-insurance” fund. While technically theirs, the Government has basically free reign to use this fund to their will given that individuals are generally “locked out” of their funds until the age of 55, with the exception of housing and healthcare. Given that most Singaporeans buy only a single home and are incentivized regularly to keep fit through various scheme (monetary rewards for reservists who pass their physical test with awards), you can already tell that the Singapore Government is already sitting on a good pile of cash funds - most of which will be used for long-term infrastructure planning and investments to help grow the national reserves and to prepare Singapore for future issues ahead (aging population, climate change). Hence, the beauty of what made Singapore’s healthcare system great is not just the 3Ms model, but rather the implementation of “effective governance” where a government uses authoritarian measures such as stopping its citizens from accessing their own retirement funds until the age of 55 in the view of public interest. After all, where else can you find an iron-fisted government that yet still cares for its people?

[@SKAOG21]

And you get interest on your savings, and those savings are tax free, and you can use it for stuff other than healthcare

[@red_amoguss]

@@SKAOG21 Absolutely correct. But the trick here is while the money is yours; until you reach the age of 55, the Government “takes care” of the money for you. See where I am headed with this narrative now? A transparent and honest Government is necessary for it to use our CPF funds to build up infrastructure, amenities and investments, which in turn, will boost the economy (and its surplus) and bring in more future opportunities for Singapore. You may lose your own individual rights to access that money, but society (and you included) as a whole benefit greatly as a collective with the impact this measure brings. It’s a win-win measure here.

[@nathanfay1988]

Audio at 5:45?

[@pigifi]

As good as it is, the system has it's own share of flaws. For example, I went to a polyclinic for a check-up and wound up waiting 2 hrs despite not being late for the appointment time, which kind of kills the purpose. Even an old uncle near me was complaining that he underwent the same thing. The actual visit lasted only 5 mins. Even the doctors hate this long wait time as it cuts into their lunch breaks. This happens practically every time I had to visit!

[@NEPtune-fy1ug]

its funny how the only flaw you provided is just a personal anecdote. just know that there's a ton of people out there who need healthcare too. you think they are just purposely wasting your time?

[@pigifi]

@@NEPtune-fy1ug I am just giving my own personal experiences to avoid making my country's healthcare look like some heavenly boon as no system is perfect. I know there are people who are in much worse situations than me who would have killed to switch places with me.

[@ArianrhodTalon]

There are indeed restrictions towards what we can use Medisave for. But the counter-intuitive part of it is, it encourages us to go for certain treatments. I had 2 impacted wisdom teeth that needed to come out. But as a university student then, the cost of the extraction pretty much turned me off. When I was told I could use my Medisave, I went ahead with the extraction. Even though it is strictly still my money, it felt 'free'. So Medisave almost incentivizes us to go for tests/treatments that can prevent much greater costs down the road.

[@suserman7775]

I live in the USA and receive very good insurance benefits. What I find irritating is the number of people in the USA that complain about the system but whose "solution" is to completely overthrow a market system. These people do not understand how it's immoral to tell someone they can't work for the price they want to charge. They also don't understand that forcing medical services to take less money means FEWER providers are willing to provide (simple law of supply). I despise when I need to get any medical service and when I ask upfront what the price is, they either say "we don't know yet" or "don't worry the insurance will pay". It should be illegal to conduct a transaction without a verifiable price, regardless of what potential discounts may come after the fact.