#1 Leading cause of death in Singapore isn't cancer; It's HEALTHCARE COST

ITS OFFICIAL. Shield plan premiums of 5 out of 7 providers have increased as of 1 Sep 2024. The premium increases range from 20%-60%, depending on the age bands.

I was shocked when I received my shield plan renewals, which increased a whopping 47%! I immediately checked my wallet to signal to my wife that I had no money and yet premiums were getting steeper!

Let’s tackle the problem by understanding how and why this happened.

I did some quick research and found a few horrifying data that have kept me awake at night since the 1st of Sep. All of a sudden, I’m getting a lot of neck strain, the ones that start from the sides of the neck and move to the center and stretch in the lower part of the back of the head and remain there for hours in a day. If you want to skip the interesting facts and figures, I won’t hold you hostage! You can proceed to search in the article “SAD TRUTHS” and understand the impact of our shield plan premiums better.

The average lifespan of Singaporeans

These healthcare statistics aren’t surprising as Singaporeans enjoy one of the highest life expectancies in the world, which is currently at 83 years and is expected to increase to 85.4 years by 2040. I’ll be 50 years old by 2040 (shhh pls do not calculate my age). And by 2040, I’m sure that there will be data for life expectancy extending again by 2050 or 2060 and it won’t be a surprise to me if it reaches 90 or even 95.

So what happens when we live that long? I think it is almost quite certain that we need health care more and we all know having access to a good health care system comes with a cost.

Top 10 principal causes of death in Singapore

I get very distracted these days and sometimes I miss the point. UTI made it to the top 10 principal causes of death in Singapore?! Oh my oh my, I guess I can say that I scrapped through death last month when I had a UTI!

The key point is, the top 5 causes of death in Singapore are usually not shocking as many of us already know, but the costs involved before death are usually shocking. Cancer for one is! Speaking from experience, my beloved mother incurred an expense of about $1600-$2000 depending on the medication prescribed and consultation with a doctor inclusive as an unsubsidized patient in the public hospital. The occurrence of these chemotherapy treatments is usually done every fortnight. Imagine the financial outflow monthly and across 9 months of fighting cancer, including a surgery of about $45,000 and ward stay for about 1 week. The total amount was in the $80,000 - $90,000 range!

Oh boy, have I also not mentioned each time we were at SGH to do my mother’s chemotherapy treatment? We have got to appear at 8 am for a blood test. After which, her chemo starts at 10am, ends at 2pm. And we got to wait for another 1- 2 hours to register and reserve a slot for the next session. Finally, we end the day with another 1-2 hours wait for medication at the pharmacy. Surely MOH has improved the process by allowing medication to be delivered, but unfortunately that takes a few days and we need the medication within the next 1-2 days, so we queue. It is usually a 8 am to 5pm thing, long waiting hours, long queues and frustrating emotions.

Private health care VS Public health care

Having experienced both, I think it would still be hard for me to say that one is better than the other. So far my experiences with doctors and nurses from both public and private sectors have been great and most of them have been very helpful and caring towards my loved ones and myself.

But I have to point out the obvious, which might give you better insights to decide which is your preferred option.

Cost for one, is one of the greatest factors that patients have when they fall ill. Some even shan away from their prescribed treatment! Here is an example of a knee replacement surgery done in Singapore across the different ward stays in Public and Private hospitals. Some may wonder why people even consider private hospitals.

As i dig deeper, i found more interesting information!

Can you imagine waiting for 6.98 hours on average before you’re warded when you go to a public hospital? Imagine the discomfort and the frustration of waiting at the AnE! This again is why there is no wonder people still choose to go to private hospitals for their healthcare needs. This matter of waiting also goes beyond the AnE. Waiting to be scheduled for a colonoscopy or CT scan can be in about 2-3 months or longer, and doing an MRI for an injury in about that time too. By the time, we would either be dead, rushed into AnE again or we might have already suffered and recovered from our injury!

Cost of Integrated Shield Plan Premiums

The recent increase in our shield plan premiums is largely brought about by medical inflation, according to Business Times, 2024 medical inflation in Singapore is expected to rise by 10.7%. This highlights the demand from the market in both the Public and Private medical sectors. Always remember that even if medical inflation were to cool, it does not mean that medical services becomes more affordable; it just becomes more expensive at a SLOWER PACE.

SAD TRUTHS INCOMING

I’m projecting the shield plan premiums of a Singaporean age 35-85 based on premiums today. And factoring in a 3% medical inflation rate as a comparison. I just want to put it out there to say that I am not shield plan biased, I am just doing a comparison and projections. Not that one company is better than the other.

Look at the drastic difference in premiums to be paid in the far right column with inflation factored in! This doesn’t end here. A huge chunk of these premiums are to be paid during our retirement years! For AIA it would be about $939,000 and Income at $728,000, between 65 to 85!

Does this mean we have to downgrade to public health care?

Does this mean when we are old, we have no options?

It seems like we have to make plans for that increase in healthcare premiums, either by investing today or start educating our offspring to pay for our shield plans when we retire. Either way, it sounds like things are not going to get easy!

Conclusion

I think it is reasonable to plan for the future, that there is a very high possibility of us living till the ripe old age of 85. It’s hard for us to compromise on our health care given that there is so much to live for, in my opinion.

As Viktor E. Frankl once said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

My recommendation, start thinking and planning today on what your health care should look like during your retirement years. Keep ourselves fit and healthy so we get more of the healthy old age years between 65-85!