yea because they have healthy population, its not because of some smart govt policy( if only it was that easy).
singapore obesity rate = 10%
usa obesity rate = 42 %
usa obesity healthcare spend = 90%
The costs for obese folk are on average 90%-100% higher than for non-obese folk, but that's not 90% of total spending. (See e.g. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33470881/)
Total cost approaches 20% of spending: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesi...
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/metabolic-syndrome
metabolic disease = all things that can be fixed by lifestyle modifications ( unless you are too far gone, ie).
see my reply here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32744868
Because obesity also drives down lifespan, and age has a huge impact on healthcare expenditures.
I can’t imagine any downside of trying to prioritize lowering obesity.
Obesity is a serious public health problem but we won't fix it by calling people stupid or charging them extra.
That might be a good idea after we make sure that every single person has equal access to healthy foods and equal ability to afford healthier options. Maybe we could also ban companies from adding HFCS to everything, ban advertising of any unhealthy foods, fine people for not wearing masks or vaccinating their babies, and police what people are allowed to have in their refrigerators so we can punish anyone who has too many unhealthy foods in their home!
Or... maybe we can let doctors and scientists figure out what the best ways to combat the obesity problem are and try to find ways to help people instead of punishing them while in the meantime making sure everyone has access to the care that they need. If we had universal healthcare the costs for your family would the same as everyone else no matter if you or the next person drinks, or smokes, or likes rock climbing, or plays sports, or drives more than x number of miles in a year, or has more than x number of sexual partners, or doesn't exercise at least x number of hours a day and nobody would have to go around spying on everybody to make sure they aren't doing anything that might raise someone else's costs "or else".
yes it is, because the health population itself is supported by strong intervention. Singapore banned the advertisements of sugary drinks years ago, Singapore strictly regulates the number of vehicle licenses in the country encouraging public transport and walking, it forces citizens to allocate money for healthcare to private savings funds which incentives reducing your own healthcare costs, and so on.
The reason American's are obese isn't a miracle or because Americans are stupider, it's because Americans refuse to take collective action when it comes to the health of the nation.
You need this with lots of stuff. “Vice” states are adjacent to more prudish states. Think New Hampshire, Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Carolina.
In the case of healthcare, states tend to push costs to somewhere else. As in send the sick person to NYC.
Granted, not the total amount spent, but city states do have some advantages on things like this.
It is more similar to the US system than a system like the UK or Canada.
Singapore controls prices through collective bargaining at the national level and unlike the US practically every purchase in its hospitals has to go through registration with the HSA (the country's relevant regulatory agency). You essentially cannot purchase any major equipment without running it by the national government. That's one of the reasons why the country has a very transparent pricing system.
It's not only savings accounts but also a very tight control over costs and acquisitions that keeps the price low, that's completely missing in the American system which just keeps growing.
And getting HSA approval doesn’t have anything to do with price - that regulatory. Even the FDA has to approve anything used in the US.
It is true you can’t purchase at the hospital level without some agreement on price, but the hospitals often do their own tenders, which are confidential prices. It’s not done at the national level for everything.
And yes, prices are tightening but companies are already deciding to just not market in Singapore if prices get too low.
Check out Germany, I think it was AZ that decided to just not launch a drug there at all because the price was too low.
