It was about how Minister in PMO Mrs Lim Hwee Hua suggested that Medisave be used for breast cancer screening. However, while speaking at a breast screening event on Saturday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan disagreed with the suggestion.
He said "My general rule of thumb is this - anything less than S$100 - S$20, S$30 - please pay out of your own pocket.
"I think Medisave should be reserved for big bills. So let's don't abuse Medisave. This is not to say I'm against (using) Medisave for screening, because some screenings can be very expensive."
His feedback is from this article here. link
I do understand Mr Khaw's logic. He is afraid that people will abuse the system. However, I personally think it is very unlikely that women will abuse the system in this case because really, how many times would women want to get a mammogram. I don't think it's very comfortable, and like a dental checkup, you don't exactly need it everyday. Plus I think they have better things to do.
However, I'm really surprised at how no one has voiced any strong feedback on how they might disagree with Mr Khaw's view. I think it is the result of having sat back and assuming that the government gets everything right for too long. Singaporeans are now like Chew Chor Meng in the following picture.
But I digress.I actually think that it's a good idea that Medisave be used for this, because it would actually encourage all women to come forward and get screened, especially those from poorer families. This will eventually lead to cost savings for the government, because cancers would be caught earlier. A mammogram costs $25-50 when subsidised, and the cost of treatment from cancer is easily a thousand times that.
What happens when people get cancer and don't realise it is they wipe out their life savings and Medishield trying to treat it, and because it's discovered too late, it's futile and sad. And the most tragic part of it all is, it is often the poor and their surviving kin who are hit hardest in such a situation.
And when that happens, we also end up paying more in taxes because they also use more Medishield and Medisave to cover the costs of their treatment.
I personally think that in looking too hard at the bottom line in this case, the Health Ministry has missed the bigger picture entirely. It would be abuse if the government allowed people to use Medisave for paying for treatment for the cough or flu, but in the case of cancer screenings it is definitely worth the money because the payoff and number of lives saved more than makes it money well spent.
This is probably why ministers are sometimes accused of being in their own ivory towers. And soon, I will probably be asked this question.
