Committee of Supply 2024 debate, Day 5: Mariam Jaafar on healthcare costs, value-based healthcare, digital and AI in healthcare and ageing caregivers

With the move to capitation funding, what benchmarking studies have been done and what targets have been set to get healthcare clusters and insurers to go after sustainable cost savings? How can the Government get individuals to make decisions for the good of their loved ones and society as a whole? What more is being done to keep healthcare costs under control? MP Mariam Jaafar raised these questions in Parliament on Tuesday (Mar 5). On value-based healthcare that focuses on delivering better health outcomes at the same or lower cost by optimising available resources, she asked the Health Minister to provide an update on the status of the value-based healthcare pilots and what results have come out from them. She also wanted to know what is the expected contribution of value-based healthcare to bending the cost curve. Highlighting that digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly transforming the healthcare landscape around the world, Ms Mariam wanted to know what the Ministry of Health is doing to further harness the potential of digital technology and AI and how the Government can ensure that these efforts drive sustainable value and outcomes. Highlighting that the challenges of caregiving are particularly significant when caregivers themselves are ageing, she asked the Government how it can better support ageing caregivers and what other scalable solutions are there to address the issue.