When we look at health care systems all over the world, we are not alone in search of a viable option towards achieving long-term sustainability. Many factors contribute to the problem of financial sustainability. First, the population is aging. This means that the future health care bills will on one hand become more expensive as more elderly require more intensive medical and rehabilitative services. But on the other hand, if there are inadequate retirement income protection, these bills will be borne by fewer people.
New technologies are generally labour intensive and tend to be financially expensive.
Lastly, community aspirations add further pressure to cost. People always tend to ask for more and better health care services as society gets more affluent. In 1999, the government-commissioned Harvard Consultants studied into and analysed the weaknesses of our health care system. However, these recommendations were not well-received by the community. In spite of this, these recommendations and the community views formed the building blocks for our comprehensive review of the health care system.