Tan Kin Lian - Perspectives Medical care for pensioners
My friend, who is 75 years old, is a retired senior civil servant. He has medical problems and visits the polyclinic for treatment. He pays a small medical bill, after the subsidies and deductions for pensioners.

The ministry asked him to see a GP to relieve the crowding in the polyclinic. He refused. He believed that if the GP refers him to a hospital, he will be treated and charged as a private patient.

He said that the government is not treating its pensioners fairly. They are laying a trap for their pensioners by asking them to see a GP for medical treatment. He is strongly against the PAP government.

I think that my friend is probably over reacting to this situation. If he needs to be treated in a hospital, the GP can refer him to the polyclinic and he can get a referal to the hospital as a subsidized patient. This is an additional step, but it is only needed when the case is serious.

The government can simplify matters by making it possible for GP to refer patients to the hospital as subsizied patients. I wonder why this practice is not changed.

Generally, I find the health care system to be quite complicated, and creates a lot of trouble and confusion without any useful purpose.

Tan Kin Lian

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