Social Studies Revision Resource – Healthcare (Singapore)
A government is responsible for making important decisions to meet the need of the nation and its people. When the
government makes these decisions, they are guided by a set of principles: Guiding Principles of Governance.
Understanding the governance of healthcare in Singapore helps you to understand how the Singapore government
manages and meets the healthcare needs of Singaporeans.
Factors for Managing Healthcare in Singapore
 Individual (Encouraging Self-Reliance, Maintaining Good Health)
 Government (Keeping Healthcare Affordable, Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle)
 Community (Provides Some Healthcare Services, Provides Support Services)
Based on Singapore’s National Health Plan (1983), healthcare in Singapore should not put a strain on the government
BUT INSTEAD should encourage self-responsibility AND community support. HOWEVER, the government would
maintain policies to keep healthcare affordable, i.e. HEALTHCARE BECOMES A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
NB: You may use these points to help you write your essays. Remember to READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY
so you can decide HOW BEST TO ADAPT THE E-E-L (from PEEL) TO SUIT YOUR ANSWER
Factor
What is it about?
Examples
(Elaboration)
Individual
To be self reliant, the individual can:
 It is about Singaporeans
(Encouraging
being self-reliant in
Self-Reliance)
managing the individual’s  Build up their personal savings so that they
will have sufficient cash to meet their
healthcare cost and having
healthcare needs.
the financial ability to pay
for medical costs without  Stay employed so that they can make use
depending on the
of their MediSave accounts to pay part of
their hospitalisation costs. Staying
government to pay for all
employed also helps to ensure sufficient
their healthcare needs.
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
Link
Keeping Healthcare
Affordable:
Hence, by encouraging
self-reliance, healthcare
is kept affordable
because the individual
has put in place
measures or relied on
existing government
This is done through …
MediSave funds are accumulated to pay schemes to ensure he
for current or future treatment.
has enough money to
pay for his healthcare
 It is about Singaporeans
 Purchase medical insurance to cover
needs.
long-term illnesses and hospitalisation.
being responsible for
E.g. purchase government medical
Furthermore, as
ensuring that they keep
insurance called MediShield using their
healthcare costs are a
themselves healthy so as
MediSave or pay for private medical
shared responsibility
not to burden the
insurance. Those over 40 can also opt to
between the self-reliant
government with paying
purchase ElderShield to pay for healthcare individual and the
for their healthcare costs.
in case of disability.
government, healthcare
This is done through …
costs are kept
 Take the responsibility to contribute to
affordable because the
Medisave if they are self-employed.
government is not
burdened by increasing
 Adopt a healthy lifestyle such as eating a
healthcare costs and
balanced meal, exercising regularly and
does not need to raise
avoiding practices that can damage one’s
taxes.
health E.g. smoking, glue sniffing. This will
help reduce the risk of getting serious
Meeting the Needs of
illnesses that can cost a lot of money to the People:
treat.
Hence, the healthcare
needs of Singaporeans
are met through selfreliance because the
individual exercises
responsibility to meet
his healthcare needs
himself and through the
use of certain
government initiatives
like MediSave to pay for
his healthcare needs.
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
Effectiveness
** However, the elderly
have not had the
chance to save for
healthcare while they
were working due to the
absence of MediSave at
that time. They usually
have to rely on the
government or the
community to look after
their needs.
Government
(Keeping
Healthcare
Affordable)
 It is about the government
providing safety nets to
ensure that healthcare
remains affordable to all
Singaporeans.
To following safety nets are provided by the
government to keep healthcare affordable n
Singapore:
 Government Subsidies. Direct subsidies
are given to hospitals, polyclinics and some
elderly nursing homes to ensure that basic
healthcare services are available for all
Singaporeans.
 Different rates of subsidies are given to
different classes of wards in government
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
** In addition, there are
also Singaporeans who
are unable to work who
are not eligible for
MediSave to pay for
their healthcare needs.
Keeping Healthcare
Affordable / Meeting
the Needs of the
People
Hence the government
has kept healthcare
affordable because it
has created policies,
which have reduced the
cost of healthcare for
lower income
Singaporeans, and
other help schemes that
ensure that even if a
hospitals, for example, C Class wards
Singaporean cannot
which receive the biggest subsidies, are
meant to help lower income Singaporeans afford basic healthcare,
he still has access to
cope with hospitalisation costs.
funds, which will help
him, meet his healthcare
 Medifund was set up in 1993 to help
needs.
Singaporeans who were not able to pay
for healthcare despite the MediSave and Furthermore, the
government has also
MediShield schemes (e.g. low-income
workers, unemployed, some self-employed put in place policies that
have ensured that
people) Patients at government hospitals
assistance to help
who need help to pay for their hospital
Singaporeans pay for
bills can apply for the fund at the
their medical treatment
hospital.
is fairly distributed and
benefits those who need
it most.
 Hospitals were restructured in the 1990s to
allow them to have the freedom to
reorganise to better meet the needs of
Singaporeans. The government could then
reduce the amount of subsidies to hospitals.
 Means-Testing was introduced to check to
see whether patients are able to pay for
healthcare. Allocating subsidies in
government hospitals based on the income
levels of Singaporeans to ensure that
resources are fairly distributed and those
who cannot afford to pay for healthcare
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
are given the most subsidies.
Government
(Promoting a
Healthy
Lifestyle
 It is about the government 
promoting a healthy
lifestyle to encourage
Singaporeans to be
healthy so that they do not
have to spend so much

money on healthcare.
The government promotes a healthy lifestyle Keeping Healthcare
through the Health Promotion Board to help Affordable:
Singaporeans to keep fit and healthy so
that they will not need medical treatment By promoting a healthy
and therefore save on medical expenses. lifestyle, the government
heps to keep healthcare
School and workplaces have programmes to affordable as
emphasise the need to maintain good
Singaporeans will keep
healthy and hence not
health.
need to spend money
on medical treatment to
treat lifestyle diseases.
Meeting the Needs of
the People:
Hence, the healthcare
needs of Singaporeans
are met through selfreliance because the
individual exercises
responsibility to meet
his healthcare needs
himself and through the
use of certain
government initiatives
like MediSave to pay for
his healthcare needs.
Community
 It is about the community
(Working with
supporting the
Organisations)
government by also
 The community supports the government Keeping Healthcare
by providing some healthcare support
Affordable:
services such as hospice care, dialysis,
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
providing some healthcare
support services to meet
the needs of the people.
long-term medical care so as to meet the As the community is in
healthcare needs of the people.
partnership with the
government to provide
 These organisations are also given grants healthcare to meet the
needs of the people, its
and other forms of support from the
government to meet the healthcare needs organisations receive
grants to provide
of the people and other special groups
healthcare services.
(e.g. poor, elderly, patients with certain These grants contribute
illnesses or conditions).
to some extent to keep
healthcare affordable for
the people cared for by
these organisations.
Meeting the Needs of
the People:
The healthcare needs of
the people are met as
the community provides
the shortfall of
healthcare services that
the government does
not provide.
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA
Analysis of Importance of Factors
Individual
Important because the Individual is
responsible for his own healthcare and
has the financial ability to pay for
medical costs without depending on the
government.
Government
Community
The most important factor because the
government is the source of all the
policies like MediSave, MediShield,
Medifund and the promotion of a healthy
lifestyle which help Singaporeans pay for
their healthcare needs.
Important because the government
cannot be solely responsible to meet all
the healthcare needs of the people. The
community is an important partner as it
provides specialised healthcare
© TWSS Humanities Department, 2012 Revised Version
Upper Secondary Social Studies Resource
Secondary 3E/NA, 4E/NA, 5NA