Health care systems in transition II. Singapore, Part I. An overview of health care systems in Singapore

Singapore's approach to health care policy is a unique combination of free market principles with careful government control. Eschewing egalitarian welfarism in favour of market forces to allocate scarce human, financial and medical resources, Singapore has succeeded in building a nation with impressive health indicators which place it among the best in the world. The economy has grown at an average of 8 per cent a year with health care spending averaging 3 per cent of GDP. Public spending accounts for roughly 1% of this and private spending 2%. Health care financing is achieved through a unique three-tier scheme involving compulsory savings, low-cost catastrophic illness insurance, and a state-funded endowment fund to pay for health care needs of the destitute. As Singapore proceeds to realize its National Health Plan, it grapples with new challenges such as a rapidly ageing population, shortage of medical manpower, and increasing commercialization of medicine.