Aaron Carroll: Snark About Singapore's Health Care System: Noted for August 22, 2013

Aaron Carroll: About Singapore…:

Man, this has been a week. Just a few days ago, I wrote about how Singapore has been a go-to for many of my move conservative colleagues, who think it’s a much more market friendly alternative to the ACA. I think that many of them underestimate how much “government” there is in the system. Today, all that is a bit irrelevant, because Singapore announced that however much government is involved, it’s not nearly enough….

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a number of policy adjustments on Sunday evening in areas such as medical insurance and education, outlining a strategic shift in his approach to nation building. Individuals must still do their best, but the community and government must do more to reduce the pressures on individuals, he said at the annual National Day Rally….

Hoo-boy. What kind of changes can we expect? You don’t think they’ll look anything like Obamacare, do you? Let’s get out our scorecards…. A “Medicaid expansion”! Check…. Guaranteed issue! Check…. Less cost-sharing! Check…. A stronger mandate! Check…. Rate shocks! Increased subsidies! Check and check…. A new entitlement program! Check. It’s almost as if Singapore doesn’t realize that it’s supposed to eschew all of these things so wonks can point to some system somewhere that hews to a more market-based health system. Don’t they understand what they’re supposed to do?