Healthcare spending to soar to $13b by 2020

The number of elderly will triple.

Singapore’s healthcare spending is forecasted to jump to $13 billion per year by 2020, almost double the $9b that is earmarked for spending this year.

Data from the government show that Singapore will experience an unprecedented age shift. Over 900,000 Baby Boomers, more than a quarter of the current citizen population, will retire from the workforce and enter their silver years.

At current birth rates and without immigration, the median age of our citizens will rise to 47 in 2030 from 39 in 2011.

According to Tan Wah Yeow, Asia-Pacific Head of Healthcare at KPMG healthcare was not explicitly the centrepiece of this year’s Budget but measures to address related concerns can be seen in many of its initiatives.

“The first one which struck me is the focus on developing Applied Health Sciences to transform healthcare delivery which not only develops economic advantage, including through R&D, but also benefits our people. The second involves complementing the development of healthcare infrastructure with our Smart Nation initiative, so that technology is embedded in healthcare design through to healthcare delivery,” he said.

He also noted that healthcare has to be sustainable, both by managing the cost of healthcare projects through project design and cost optimisation while keepinghealthcare costs affordable through healthcare assurance initiatives such as Medishield Life and the Silver Support schemes.