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https://www.ipscommons.sg/healthcare-for-the-elderly-can-and-should-we-do-more/
This article showed how the healthcare policies can results in not helping the elderly instead as seen in "35% of elderly above the age of 75 years are not enrolled in the MediShield scheme. Neither do they enjoy employer benefits since most of them are not working or are working without benefits." and goes on to say that "Medisave only commenced in 1983 and Singaporeans in their 70s and 80s would have built the Medisave nest egg for only a decade or two and hence would not have sufficient monies to provide for a lifetime of healthcare needs." This shows that there is a possibility that healthcare policies that ensures affordability is not enjoyed by everyone, which is opposite of how it should have been.

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"What do you think about Singapore healthcare policies for elderly in general?"

I feel that it is adequate and has really helped the elderly in many ways. However, I also feel that there are some issues in some of the policies. For example, MediShield LIfe. It is a good insurance plan that can ease the financial difficulties many elderly face. However, buying the insurance plan itself is already very expensive. If some elderly are unable to get the insurance plan, they would not be able to enjoy its benefit. To those elderly, there would be no improvement made to the healthcare policies. Another issue is that some schemes have limit to how much you can use them. Medisave is a savings account scheme which helps to pay a share of medical treatment, but it has a limit to how much one can use it. As we know, elderly body deteriorates as they are older. Their medical treatment cost a lot. Although, Medisave is useful to help them reduce the cost of their medical treatment, the limit of it does not allow them to reduce the cost a lot. Some elderly may still face issues in paying for their medical treatment.

The opinion of the interviewee shows that Singapore healthcare policies for elderly has some problems. This can cause those policies to be inadequate or ineffective.

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http://www.sgmoneymatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/eldershield-vs-mycare.png
This article explains that there are much better options (upgrading to Aviva MyCare or MyCare Plus) than just settling for the ElderShield package. It shows how the two other upgrades offers better benefits than just the simple ElderShield that one tends to be enrolled with. The fact that there are upgrades that one can choose shows that ElderShield is not the best option out there.

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We can see from the graphic that ElderShield does offer payouts per month to those who are qualified in the scheme, supporting its effectiveness. However, we can also see how the premiums can accumulate to be expensive, especially to those who does not have a lot in their MediSave account or the amount of money that they have currently. To save money, many may think of wanting to join at a later age but in their current age, they will not be able to enjoy and have the help that they need.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/u-s-health-care-system-ranks-as-one-of-the-least-efficient, http://www.thenational.ae/world/southeast-asia/the-worlds-best-health-care-how-singapores-hybrid-model-is-the-envy-of-other-countries
These two articles proves that Singapore's healthcare policies have improved over the years and have received worldwide recognition. As seen in the Bloomberg's annual healthcare efficiency index, Singapore ranked 2nd out of 55 countries in the year of 2016. Singapore's life This shows how Singapore is highly efficient in its healthcare system, mostly from its healthcare policies.
The second article states how Singapore's healthcare stayed as top-notch for many years and ranked highly in the rankings and tests. It also included what Singaporeans have to say about the healthcare policies created. This is seen in : " "There is a common saying that it is better to die than fall sick in Singapore," said 59-year-old taxi driver Philip Choong. "But better now - after the pioneer package and MediShield Life," he said. "

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https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/costs_and_financing/schemes_subsidies/Interim_Disability_Assistance_Programme_For_The_Elderly.html, http://ageinggracefully.asia/project/interim-disability-assistance-programme-for-the-elderly-idape/
These show the requirements of the IDAPE scheme. As seen in both of these articles, we can see how IDAPE aims to help those with a lower income. (gives a larger payout ($250) to someone with a lower income ($0-$1800) ). From this, we can see that it also helps with those who are unemployed, unlike Medisave, for example. These articles also proved how it aim to help with those unable to join ElderShield. (as seen in  "Aged 40 to 69 as at 30 September 2002 who are unable to join ElderShield at its launch in September 2002 due to pre- existing disabilities" in the second article). These two articles shows how IDAPE aims to help a wider variety of elderly who was not given a chance at first to enjoy affordable healthcare.

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/quicker-easier-access-seniors-mobility-fund , http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/healthcare-sector-ride-digital-revolution-intelligently-gan-kim-yong
We can see from these two articles how this scheme helps the elderly and is constanly upgraded. From the first article, it shows the improvemnts made to the fund, as seen in : "can receive funds in about one week - half the time it previously took" , "more assistive devices... have also been added to the list of items eligible for subsidies", " it was increasing the SMF to $50 million" and many more. The fact that this scheme is being upgraded continuously supports the effectiveness as seen in "some 700 have benefited from it", after the increased funds from the government. In the second article, it talks about how healthcare will be upgraded much more with high-tech and advanced apps and in it, "Those who qualify for the Seniors Mobility and Enabling Fund can tap the money to buy home care supplies from the app." This shows the fund's effectiveness in helping the elderly cover the heavy expenses from the new home care supplies.

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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/extra-100-a-month-for-disabled-pioneer-generation-members
This shows how the Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme help those that are already qualified for other policies such as IDAPE. This immediately will be effective in giving the maximum help to those elderly that are qualified.

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http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/450000-eligible-pioneer-generation-package-says-pm
"...get these benefits for life, with more for those who are older, so they get greater assurance in their golden years...reducing their medical expenses would also enable these pioneers to save more for their other needs and reduce the burden on their children."

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https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/pressRoomItemRelease/2015/Medifund-continues-to-ensure-accessible-and-affordable-healthcare-for-all-singaporeans.html
"Patients aged 65 and above received $52.4 million in assistance." A huge amount of money is used to provide financial assistance to elderly. This can help greatly ease the financial burden they face.
"Needy elderly patients received $28 million of Medifund assistance..." Elderly do not have to worry about costly bills as they benefit from the scheme and enjoy good financial assistance.
https://www.sgh.com.sg/about-us/newsroom/News-Articles-Reports/Pages/medifund-silver-rescue.aspx
This article shows how the scheme has made an impact on an elderly. We can see how it really acts as an extra safety net, as seen in " Madam Sam’s final bill, after 75 per cent of it was subsidised, came to $2,483. But her daughter, Ms Yee Li Nah, 43, had only $205 in her Medisave account. Fortunately, they were able to turn to Medifund Silver, which picked up the rest of the tab." We can see how they tried using MediSave, but it was insufficient. After that, Medifund Silver ( for needy elderly) helped to cover the rest. We can see the real-life effect of it paying medical expenses that are still heavy and uncovered by other subsidies and schemes.

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As shown in the picture, this insurance plan covers many healthcare bills and has many benefits. This would be useful to the elderly as they may face many health issues. The insurance plan can help to subsidise their medical bills and reduce their financial burden.

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http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/the-impeccable-logic-of-medisave
The article says that this healthcare scheme benefits many. People do not have to worry that they will not be able to afford healthcare.
"The young rarely think of this need. By the time they are old and sick, it is too late to start saving for it." Elderly has a lot of healthcare needs. Through this scheme, elderly would be able to have enough retirement savings.
"Today, more than 200 Medisave withdrawals are made every hour. Last year, more than $850 million from Medisave was used to cover people's healthcare needs. " This shows that Medisave is very effective in helping to subsidise healthcare and would be useful to the elderly

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"What do you think of government healthcare subsidies for elderly?"

I think that it is good enough. At least it helps to reduce the financial burden elderly have to deal with. Since most elderly are retired, they stop earning money. Some of them may not have enough savings for retirement that can last them for the rest of their life. Furthermore, as they are old, they develop more health issues and their medical expenses can be very large. Subsidies from the government would greatly help them to reduce their medical expenses.

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Ineffectiveness of Singapore Healthcare Policies for Elderly

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Ineffectiveness of Singapore Healthcare Policies for Elderly

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- some elderly, especially those with chronic illnesses, still face financial difficulties even with the help of subsidies and insurance plan
- some find it troublesome as it takes a lot of effort and time for them to be eligible for some subsidies and schemes
- some elderly do not fit into the criteria of some schemes and therefore, are unable to enjoy its benefits
- some policies have limits on how much one can use them which can cause the policy to be ineffective when medical bills are very expensive -> this is not feasible for those with huge medical bills (unable to reduce one's financial burden)

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Effectiveness of Singapore Healthcare Policies for Elderly

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Effectiveness of Singapore Healthcare Policies for Elderly

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- Teaches elderly to not be overly dependent on the government's resources and instead, make an effort to depend on their own savings. --> Learns to be more independent --> Avoids any unhappiness or protest if any government's resources gets too expensive or runs out.
- help to make healthcare affordable to all kinds of people whether they are senior citizens, people from low-income group or middle-income group

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- Doesn't decrease the elderly financial risk but instead, it increases it.
- If they put their money in ElderShield, they must take it out of Medisave or use cash to pay premiums (which are not very cheap).  And if they take it out of Medisave, this will increase the chances of insufficient money in their Medisave accounts
- Buying ElderShield means that the elderly will have challenges faced due to extreme disabilities covered which is good. However, they will have less money for the more common medical bills that can be paid through Medisave.
- $300-400 may not be enough to cover medical expenses per month.

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- Severe disability insurance
- Provide financial support to Singaporeans who need long-term care, especially in old age
- Those covered will get a monthly payout for a period of five years to six years.
- Get a monthly payout of $300-400

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- Help ease the financial burden of disabled elderly
- It helps to cover for those needy and low-income disabled elderly who are not covered by other schemes but requires equally important financial assistance. --> removes any negligence towards the elderly who are not qualifies --> removes any unhappiness from these elderly. --> ensures everyone gets affordable healthcare once again.

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Singapore Healthcare Policies for Elderly

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- Not only does it help with the financial difficulty elderly may face, it also helps them to buy the devices that can be too expensive without the subsidies and without it, some elderly will not be able to move at all.
- Improve elderly daily life and they become much more independent.
-The elderly will be able to carry out the activities in their daily lives with the aid of transport and devices provided by the fund

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- Helps to defray the cost of long-term care and provide more financial assistance to the elderly
- Elderly would be able to afford the care expenses they need
- Elderly will get more subsidies with this scheme added with the policies that they qualify for. This will lead to the elderly being able to afford more care and treatment for the disability they have
- Helps a bigger variety of elderly that are in the Pioneer Generation.

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- helps further provide subsidies and benefits to elderly in Singapore
- It also includes those who does not suffer from illnesses that require expensive treatments, which a lot of policies are aiming to cover. As a result, more elderly can be covered through policies such as this policy.

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- This helps elderly who do not have enough retirement savings to pay for medical expenses even after subsidies
- Benefits elderly who suffers from chronic illnesses and needs a lot of long-term treatment.
- Elderly do not have to worry that they may not be able to afford the healthcare they need through the help from Medifund.

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- with the insurance, huge hospital bills (e.g. for surgeries) are subsidised heavily
- As elderly reach the final stage in life, they develop more problems such as chronic illnesses. They also require daily check-ups and frequent treatments. The fees will accumulate eventually and thus, the insurance plan can help to ease the financial burden.
- help elderly who have illnesses that require long-term and expensive treatment
- lesser financial difficulty faced by the elderly
- However, the insurance plan itself is very expensive. Not all elderly can afford it.

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- This helps the elderly to be able to have enough retirement savings
- Elderly would have enough money to afford healthcare even if sudden health issues arise
- They would be able to pay their medical expenses without financial difficulties and would not have to worry about whether they have enough money or not
- As Medisave have a limit to how much one can use, the elderly do not have to worry about spending too much and not having enough in the future
- It also educates and prevents over-usage of healthcare as Medisave uses their own savings to pay for the bills.
-Elderly will not be too reliant on the government

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- It helps to ease the financial burden elderly have to face
- Most elderly are retired and not all of them have enough retirement savings
- Subsidies help them to be able to pay lesser and save their retirement savings for other needs

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- individual medical savings account scheme which allows all Singaporeans to pay their share of medical treatment without difficulty
- working Singaporeans and their employers contribute to a part of the monthly wages into the account to save up for their future medical needs
- this would help reduce the huge medical bills
- there is a limit on how much one can use Medisave

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- Basic healthcare insurance plan that helps to pay for large hospital and healthcare bills and selected costly outpatient treatments, such as treatment for chronic illnesses such as chemotherapy for cancer patients.
- Provides protection to all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents for life

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- Endowment fund set by the government to help needy Singaporeans
- A safety net for patients who face financial difficulties with their remaining bills even after receiving government subsidies and drawing on other means, such as using money from their Medisave or MediShield Life

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- provide healthcare benefits to all Pioneers
- additional 50% off subsidised services and medications at polyclinics and specialist outpatient care
- enjoy subsidies at participating general practitioners and dental clinics under Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS)

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Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme

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Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme

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- For Pioneers who permanently need assistance in at least 3 of these daily activities: eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, walking or moving around
- Life-long financial assistance in terms of cash of $100 each month to help with the expenses of the care they need.
- This scheme are also an additional policy that an elderly can enjoy.

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Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE)

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Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE)

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- Provides financial help to needy and disabled Singaporeans seniors who are unqualified to join Eldershield as they do not meet the age (too old, for exampled) and pre-existing disabilities (one must not have pre-existing disabilities to enroll to ElderShield) criteria listed for ElderShield that allows them to enjoy ElderShield benefits.
- Provides financial assistance of $150 - $250 a month and up to 72 months
-It can help to pay the costs of medical bills, nursing bills or when hiring a caregiver to take care of an elderly under this scheme

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Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF)

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Seniors' Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF)

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- Provide holistic support to seniors to age in place within the community by extending subsidies to Singaporean seniors
- SMF subsidies can be used to apply on assistive devices such as walking stick, wheelchair and etc.
- Transport subsidies also available

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- Heavy government subsidies of up to 80% of public healthcare institutions

- Help provide more affordable healthcare
- All Singaporeans have access to it