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1/18/2008
Boon Wan's new initiative
Compulsory disclosure of hospital bills from private hospitals. This is another big step forward towards greater transparency and will benefit the patients and the industry. Don't be shy, tell us how much you charge. It is an honourable profession with honourable professionals and this should not be a problem.
Actually I am not too concern with private hospitals as these are places for those who can afford and voluntarily choose to go there. They would not mind paying and they have an option not to go there.
What I think will be more important will be the bills of other industries where customers have no where else to go. The first one that comes to my mind is the legal industry where people really have no choice but to go to the lawyers when they are in legal trouble. This profession is also run by professionals, honourable and learned counsels and asking them to disclose their bills will be most welcome.
Yes, why bother to highlight bills from private hospitals where filthy rich patients can afford to pay and money is no problem.
ReplyDeleteMy feeling is that this will make the bills from public hospitals look puny and palatable and so Singaporeans would complain less about the medical cost of our affordable public hospitals. What a master stroke from our million dollar ministers! When the whinning gets too loud just compare costs with London, New York and Tokyo and there you are, we are still very affordable.
my first instincts upon reading that - clever move by Khaw, so that he can tell the whole world how much the public hospitals are being 'subsidised' and the citizens are so well taken care of.
ReplyDeletei may be wrong...but let's see.
it is another way of looking at the intent. everyone will read differently and some will discover the truth while some will find the tooth.
ReplyDeleteThis is a typically dumb idea from a a typically dumb govt motherfucker - who can't make it in the real world.
ReplyDeleteThe word "private" in "private enterprise" means any disclosure is voluntary.
Govt, get the fuck out of the private sector, and let us real people do real work (instead of you fuckers ripping off peoples' money by force)
addendum:
ReplyDeleteAsking the lawyers to disclose their fees is a nonsense. "Transparency" is IMPOSSIBLE in both health care and law because of the nature of CONFIDENTIALITY as a pre-requisite for putting the CUSTOMERS INTERESTS first and ABOVE the interests of the state. (Only private enterprise can do this. Govt enterprise means the minister-in-charge must be first appeased, you the customer are LAST).
The govt of S'pore is attracting overseas law firms to set up and do business in S'pore.
Suggesting "disclosure" and "transparency" will drive them away.
Most things in life are non-disclosurable, and like it or lump it, no one can effectively "legislate" transparency - no matter how loud The Sheeple holler.
If you believe that PRIVACY is a right, then to suggest under the force of law "disclosure" and "transparency" will contradict the right to privacy. Of course there is VOLUNTARY disclosure and transparency, but that is only possible under a framework of PRIVATE contracts between parties or individuals.