Singapore Provide low cost treatment in public hospitals
The public health service can be kept affordable.

They should treat all patients with inexpensive generic drugs. They should avoid branded drugs.

Often, the generic drugs are suitable to treat the patients. They have been tested for decades and found to be effective anyway. 

The specialists and drug firms have a monetary incentive to get patients to use new, branded drugs. They are able to charge high prices. That is how they make a high income. 

Let the wealthy go to private hospitals to get their branded drugs. Let the patients pay for the high cost of treatment, if they wish to pay the high prices. 

If the public care cannot treat a patient, it is likely that private care cannot either. However, this choice is up to the patient and their family.

For ordinary citizens, they can get treatment in the public hospitals at a fraction of the cost of private care, which can be borne largely by the state. 

Tan Kin Lian



 

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