Means testing put on hold and People will be consulted first: Minister Khaw

www.pap.org.sg : 2May06.
Means testing put on hold and People will be consulted first: Minister Khaw
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has announced that MEANS testing will not be implemented within the next two years as originally planned. He said that it will only be implemented after he has consulted the people.
Mr Khaw said he is not going to rush through without consulting people but will take his time discussing it with the community, and find practical ways to implement it.
Instead, Mr Khaw said he would focus on revamping the MediShield national health insurance system and on improving healthcare for the chronically-ill.

Said Mr Khaw: "I will do it only if it is practical, because the theory may be sound but if the implementation is more costly ... then it's not worth the effort. "So whether to do it or not, I don't know. It depends on whether we can come up with practical ideas."

He accused the WP of trying to score political points by proposing populist healthcare solutions that have proved disastrous in Britain, Europe and elsewhere. In Britain, he said, patients wait for months for even simple procedures.

And ideas such as reducing GST for medical bills, which is already being done for subsidised patients, would benefit the rich more than the poor. Private hospital bills are many times the size of Class C hospital bills. "Instead, our solution is to provide Class C with the greatest subsidy (at 80 per cent of cost)," he said.

Responding to the opposition’s idea to reduce GST for medical bills, Mr Khaw said that would benefit the rich more than the poor. Private hospital bills are many times the size of Class C hospital bills. “Instead, our solution is to provide Class C with the greatest subsidy (at 80% of cost),”


Source: Extracted from The Straits Times and TODAY 2 May 2006
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