ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that a series of health care financing reforms implemented in Singapore is shaped by the complex interaction of five key elements over time: political institutions, colonial legacy, policy feedback, ideologies and contextual influence. It examines the development trajectory of health care financing reforms in Singapore, reasons that enabled the People's Action Party(PAP) government to implement health care financing reforms, views of citizens on different health care financing schemes and government's continuous efforts to strengthen the health care financing system. The Singaporean government has transformed a tax-based health care system into a multilayered funding system, which consists of Medisave, MediShield, Medifund, MediShield Plus, ElderCare Fund, ElderShield, ElderShield Supplements and Medifund Silver. And it explains why the Singaporean government is able to reform the funding structure of health care. The chapter concludes by discussing health care financing reforms in Singapore using historical institutionalism.
