LONG-TERM STRATEGIES TO ENSURE HEALTHCARE COST CONTAINMENT AND REDUCTION OF UNNECESSARY MEDICAL TESTS

NOTICE PAPER NO. 3610

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 08 APRIL 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis

MP for Sengkang GRC

Question No. 7429

To ask the Minister for Health (a) what long-term strategies is the Government implementing to ensure healthcare cost containment, beyond annual premium adjustments and fee controls; (b) whether Singapore has studied international best practices in medical cost control, especially where they relate to new medical technologies; and (c) how does the Government plan to balance medical innovation and patient outcomes with cost sustainability.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 3612

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 08 APRIL 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong

MP for Hougang

Question No. 7454

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry has assessed the extent to which unnecessary medical tests, procedures, or prescriptions contribute to rising hospital bill sizes; (b) what measures are in place to prevent over-servicing by healthcare providers; and (c) whether patient cost-sharing mechanisms can be enhanced to deter excessive consumption of medical services.

Written Answer

The Ministry of Health (MOH) outlined its key strategies to manage healthcare cost during the recent COS debate. These are widely regarded as international best practices.

To manage growth in cost of delivery, we implemented Health Technology Assessments to ensure that we fund and encourage the use of health technologies that are clinically- and cost-effective. With these efforts, we observed that drug spending growth in the public healthcare system has slowed from around 10% before FY2021 to 5% in FY2023.

We have also implemented a value-driven care programme throughout our public healthcare clusters, tracking and benchmarking quality and cost outcomes across common conditions and identifying areas for improvement. These ensure that what we spend on healthcare is commensurate with good health outcomes for Singaporeans.

Demand for healthcare will grow with an aging population. Through Healthier SG and Age Well SG, we are investing in population health to keep Singaporeans healthier for longer. We are transforming care to anchor care in communities as far as possible, instead of over-relying on acute hospitals.

We developed and publish fee benchmarks for close to 2200 common procedures and conditions to guide fee setting in the private healthcare sector. We also publish hospital bill size information across all hospitals and ward types to enable patients to make comparisons. Through a Claims Management Office that we set up in 2022, we have stepped-up monitoring and enforcement against inappropriate MediShield Life claims that may drive up costs and healthcare insurance premiums.

Finally, an important factor to manage costs is to ensure we maintain financial discipline in how we pay for healthcare. We try not to over-rely on only subsidy or insurance. Instead, through a combination of subsidy, MediShield Life and MediSave, and maintaining some co-payment from patients, we try to keep healthcare affordable. As a result, our national healthcare spending is under 5% of GDP as of 2022, which is significantly lower than the 10-12% of other developed economies. This translates into a lower healthcare financial burden for Singaporeans.