We just got news here in Singapore that part of the health care bill was upheld and part of the health care bill was not upheld in the U.S.
We unfortunately have had ample opportunity to explore health care while here in Singapore and I wanted to log my observations.
Singapore requires its workers to pay out of each check for health care. There are public clinics and hospitals that one can choose to go to.
In addition to these public clinics there are private clinics and hospitals. The private health care settings are more expensive and have a bit more of a wetern feel to them, staff speak good English. The people we have spoken to that are nationals say that the private hospitals are way to expensive and they would not choose to go there, they don't have to go there as there are many choices in the city.
No matter where you choose to go to be treated you are not just walking in blind. ALL of your cost is known to you up front! With some of our proceedures we have been given a list of treatment options, each option going from minimul treatment to maximimum treatement had a cost listed next to it and then they tell you the cost for each additional day in the hospital if an exteded stay is needed.
With this information we are able to make an informed choice, the doctors here have been very good at answering questions, letting us know the treatment plan they think would be best but in the end it is our choice. We can take this information and then compare the cost to another facility, maybe we would want to choose a public place to have the treatment, maybe private, either way we know all aspects of that care.
When we are finished with what ever surgery or treatment we have had we see the cashier before leaving and take care of our bill. If you are from Singapore you have a savings account that the government has been saving for you to pull from you also have assistance available to you if you can not pay the full bill. For our private insurance, we pay the full amount on a creditcard, submit the bill to the insurance and are paid back.
I know that in the past with complicated child birth, kids broken bones or hospital stays in the U.S. we would continue to get bills for that proceedure up to and beyond a year later! How crazy this is, I see from living in a country of 6 million people that a billing process for health care can be simple, it can be stream lined and one can make a truely informed decision.
Maybe someday we in the U.S. can enjoy such a simple process in health care.
