He Ting Ru on cost of living crisis

The continued cost of living crisis has had an impact on mental and physical health in the near term. In the long term, it will impact the health and development of Singaporeans as they grow and age. MP He Ting Ru, who raised this concern in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 7), stressed the need to take steps now to help hardworking families already struggling to juggle their household balance sheets deal confidently with increases in the cost of care and health so that they do not become an insurmountable burden. She asked if the Government could consider allowing the use of MediSave for a range of private mental health treatments. Ms He said mental health is no less important than physical health, and mental health can lead to issues of physical health as well. Since MediSave is already being approved for use for mental health services at places like the Institute of Mental Health and polyclinics, she hopes the Government can consider expanding this to include mental health services in other practice settings aside from purely psychiatric settings to assist families across the board.