On Friday, Mr Ong said on the CNA podcast that the authorities would do their best to loosen and untie what he has described as a “knot” between policyholders, insurers, doctors and hospitals – but everybody else must do their part as well.
“When we need to raise taxes, we tell you so, because we need the tax revenue to expand the healthcare system. We implement policies; encourage people to be healthy. So we do our best to make sure healthcare needs are catered to,” he said.
“But communities, individuals, families, have a big role to play … Actually, the fact is that we all still have very bad health habits. We don’t have to deprive ourselves in order to live healthily, but there are actually very basic habits that we can adopt just to keep all the health risks at bay.”
Citing regular health screening as an example, he added that while the government can provide a “safety net” in the form of public hospital subsidies and insurance schemes like MediShield Life, the other safety net is to simply stay healthy.
“It’s the cheapest and the most cost-effective, and it requires more sacrifices when you’re young, but the payback when you’re old is huge,” said Mr Ong.
“In the end, we have to understand our own needs. Understand that absolute peace of mind is very expensive – it’s becoming more and more expensive. Talk to your financial adviser, and buy insurance that caters to your needs.”
