In April 2023, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung announced that Singapore is set to become a “super-aged society” in 2026.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (5 March), he reiterated this issue, referring to when at least 21% of the population is aged 65 or older.
The Government is preparing for this shift by expanding healthcare capacity while introducing measures such as flexible MediSave usage and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support preventive care.
In June 2025, around 20.7% of the population was aged 65 and above. That percentage has been rising by roughly one percentage point each year.
Mr Ong noted that the nation would have likely crossed the 21% threshold by now.
Source: MDDI Singapore on Youtube
“We foresaw this demographic transition years ago and took as many early actions as we can,” he added.
“These include raising the GST to strengthen our fiscal position; increased the retirement and re-employment ages; built many more age-friendly streets; two-room flexi flats and senior apartments; bolstered financial security for seniors through Silver Support, CPF Life, and MediShield Life.”
The minister shared that such policies helped cushion the impact of the “very profound” demographic transition.
With the ageing population, demand for healthcare services is expected to increase, according to Mr Ong.
Image by MS News
To cope, the Ministry of Health (MOH) plans to add around 2,800 more public acute and community beds between 2025 and 2030.
However, Mr Ong stressed that trying to meet the rising demand of a larger healthcare system will, in turn, “cost more”.
“If we do not manage this carefully, rising healthcare spending can strain public finances and households budgets alike,” he said.
Singapore currently spends less than 5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on healthcare, significantly lower than many developed economies that typically spend between 9% and 12%.
Mr Ong said the country’s healthcare financing system plays a key role in keeping spending sustainable.
Mr Ong highlighted that healthcare needs to change as populations age.
Image by MS News
“Imagine for a young person, sickness tends to be episodic — you are admitted to hospital, you get treatment, you get discharged, and then you recover,” he added.
For seniors, however, care tends to be a more “complicated and continuous” process.
“They tend to have multiple conditions; post-discharge, they need rehabilitative care and follow-up care in the community,” Mr Ong said.
Because of this, healthcare funding is gradually shifting away from acute hospital treatment towards aged care and population health.
MOH is also exploring how AI can be used to strengthen healthcare delivery.
Mr Ong said AI should enhance healthcare decisions and not replace doctors, emphasising that clinicians will remain central to patient care.
Image by MS News
“Care should be AI-enhanced, not AI-decided,” he said.
According to Mr Ong, MOH has created a model specific to our local context using anonymised patient data.
He explained that the model can identify individuals who have a high risk of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes and high cholesterol within three years.
“We chose diabetes and high cholesterol because they are the key drivers of strokes and heart attacks, which affect 60 Singaporeans every day,” Mr Ong stated.
The AI risk assessment is expected to be rolled out to doctors for patients enrolled in Healthier SG from early 2027.
“If the tool flags a patient as high risk, the doctor may recommend more significant lifestyle adjustments and annual check-ups.”
Another initiative by the Government includes allowing more flexibility in the use of MediSave, to support preventive care and chronic disease management.
Source: Codrut Evelinas Images on Canva. Image for illustration purposes only.
“To provide more support for preventive and chronic care in the community, we will raise the MediSave limits from S$500/S$700 to S$700/S$1000. This will benefit over 910,000 patients who currently tap on the scheme, roughly 20% of whom have annual bills exceeding the withdrawal limits,” Mr Ong explained.
The minister added that the changes will be effective from January 2027.
Mr Ong mentioned that the list for conditions covered under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) will be expanded to include illnesses such as hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.
“In addition, we are studying whether we can include other chronic conditions such as eczema in the CDMP.”
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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore (left) and MS News (right).