In Singapore, the gov TAKES, AGAINST YOUR WILL, under threat of incarceration or death of you fight back, a % of your income to be paid into a HSA and the collectivist insurance plan for large expenditures.
How is that "personal responsibility"? How is that not the gov thinking they can spend your money better than you can?
I agree that that's better than what the US has right now. Far, far better. But how is that more "free market" than the current situation in the US?
And how is the NHS a system where " the government has to become your doctor or make your health decisions for you"? WTF?
Do you understand that the entire population in the UK is covered by (per capita) what we pay for Medicare and Medicaid alone?
How can the Singapore system bring down Medicare costs? Or do you want to abolish Medicare? Talk about a pipe dream!
Good points.
@xjx
Interesting, they have means testing to determine where you get to stay in hospital:
Means testing in Singapore hospitals
Patients warded in B2 and C class wards in public hospitals with effect from 1 January 2009 will be means-tested to determine the level of subsidy they will be entitled.
* Patient subsidy will be based on the average monthly income received over the last available 12-month period including bonuses for salaried employees.
* Services such as Day surgery, A&E services, Specialist Outpatient and polyclinic visits will not be means tested and standard subsidies rate applied to citizens and PR as usual.
* People with no income, such as retirees or housewives, will have their subsidy rate pegged to the value of their homes.
* All unemployed residents of HDB flats excluding those in executive condominiums (EC) will be entitled to full subsidy.
You pay more if you have money to less if you have none.
I really want to visit Singapore, however, there are traditions in their culture that you just can't get around, like chewing gum is banned, littering has HUGE fines, and there is the death penalty for drug possession.
I am surprised, as a freedom loving American, that you would choose Singapore, as there are quite a few government mandated issues.
Can you imagine what the response from the American public would be if some of the practices, like measuring waistlines, telling the patient they are too fat and have X amount of time to lose weight would be?
As mentioned, children are made to skip meals.
I am not completely opposed to government guidelines and interventions, I do think that some drastic changes are necessary for tackling obesity, but do you really think Americans will go for this?
I think you saw half private, half public and thought it was a good idea.
This is an entirely different cultural mentality, it would never fly in the US.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6124732/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/
SINGAPORE — The fight against obesity starts young in Singapore. Fat children are separated from their classmates and ordered to do more exercising until they lose weight.
Ten-year-old Mona Siow has been trying to lose weight for the last four years.
Instead of joining her friends at the canteen during recess every day, the fourth-grader and other chubby students gather in the hall and follow a teacher’s instructions to skip rope, run, and dribble a basketball.
http://www.pacifichealthsummit.org/...ol Efforts in Singapore - 2008 Case Study.pdf
Singapore Workplace Health Promotion Programs:
Almost 60 percent of Singaporeans over the age of fifteen years participate in the workforce in some way.10 This makes the workplace a natural and effective setting in which to promote the health and well-being of both employees and management.
To incentivize companies and organizations to start and sustain Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) programs, HPB introduced WHP grants in 2001.
Any organization can apply for up to SGD$5,000 to help support the development and sustainability of a WHP program.
The organization must co-fund the project by contributing an equal or higher amount. The grant may be used by companies and organizations to fund activities such as training for staff to conduct workplace health promotion programs, health risk assessment for employees, and health education activities. Grants may also support the purchase of related equipment and facilities or incentives that increase participation and motivate behavior change.
Government mandates what cooked and restaurant food can be sold to the public
Community-wide Programs
Healthier Hawker Program: Launched in July 2006, the Healthier Hawker Program encourages hawker centers to prepare their signature dishes with healthier ingredients.14 With about half of Singaporeans patronizing hawker centers almost every day of the week, the program aims to provide a healthier food supply to Singaporeans—without compromising taste, accessibility, or cost—by incentivizing vendors to switch to healthier ingredients, such as cooking oil with a lower percentage of saturated fat; fiber-enriched noodles; and low-fat milk in lieu of coconut milk.15 HPB partially subsidizes the costs of some of these healthier ingredients, which are slightly more expensive than the regular ingredients. For example, HPB absorbs about 10 percent of the cost of the healthier cooking oil to make it more affordable to the hawkers.
Participating stalls display the “Healthier Choice Symbol” on their Food Hygiene Certificate. Through public education campaigns, Singaporeans are encouraged to choose participating stalls over others. Since its inception in 2006, the number of vendors participating in the Healthier Hawker Program has increased from 32 to 800.
Healthier Dining Program: The Healthier Dining Program was introduced in 2003 to increase the availability of healthier dishes in restaurants. HPB works with participating restaurants to modify existing dishes so that they contain less oil, salt, and sugar—and include more fruit and vegetables—as well as to introduce healthier new dishes.
To encourage patronage of healthy restaurants, HPB runs articles in food magazines and national newspapers and conducts quizzes and competitions. A list of healthy restaurants is published on HPB’s website.16 More than 300 restaurants are currently participating in the program. The proportion of table orders that have at least one healthier dish increased from 35 percent in 2004 to 63 percent in 2008.
Government madates in the food manufacturing industry
Partnerships with Food Manufacturers
HPB’s Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) Labeling Program was introduced in 1998 to provide a framework for governmental cooperation with the food industry, as well as to improve nutrition labeling and ensure a healthy food supply. Manufacturers with products that meet predefined nutritional criteria set by HPB display the HCS displayed on their food labels.
A weekly running session in the Central Business District for working adults.
12 Obesity Prevention and Control in Singapore
Since 1998, food manufacturers in Singapore have responded favorably to this initiative by reducing salt, total fat, saturated fat, trans-fat, and sugar in consumer products. There is also evidence that good practices by supermarket chains in promoting HCS products at affordable prices have led to a shift in consumers’ preferences and purchasing behavior:
• The percentage of sales of HCS products compared to the total number of products in the same category (e.g., low-fat fresh plain milk labeled with HCS versus all fresh plain milk) increased from 29 percent in 2003 to 50 percent in 2007.17
Based on results fro
m a survey conducted by HPB • in 2004, 67.4 percent of people were aware of HCS labels on food products in the market, and 69.0 percent of these people had used this symbol to assist them in making healthier food choices.18
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