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SINGAPORE : Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, Madam Halimah Yacob, wants to focus on making healthcare more affordable in Singapore, while increasing the quality of care at the same time.
She says these are just two of the many issues she will raise in parliament during the Committee of Supply debates, scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
The debates enable each ministry to lay out their budget plans for the new financial year, allowing questions from Members of Parliament as well.
Madam Halimah brought smiles to many senior citizens as she spread the Lunar New Year cheer at the Moral Home for the Aged Sick.
She distributed red packets to residents there, with the help of a "God of Fortune".
Speaking to reporters later, she says the recent liberalisation of Medisave and improvements to Medishield and Eldershield are good but she wants to see more done.
Madam Halimah says: "The government has increased funding for healthcare to about an average of about $300 million over the next few years. Well, to me, that is welcome improvement but my question is whether that is enough. Considering the rapidity with which that we are ageing, and the (number of)people suffering from really chronic illnesses, that probably to me is a conservative allocation on the part of the government."
Another key issue Madam Halimah wants to raise in parliament is what more can be done to care for the rapidly ageing population.
One idea is to raise healthcare subsidies in hospitals for seniors like them.
Another is to have better integrated care for the elderly when they move from hospitals to nursing homes like this one. - CNA/ch
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