Debated in Parliament on 8 May 2024.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry can consider mandating transparent fee schedules from health insurers for medical procedures to help patients make informed decisions when seeking private care; (b) if so, how will the Ministry ensure that such fee schedules will be in the interest of patients amidst the competing interests of the insurers and doctors; and (c) whether the Ministry can implement a stipulated timeframe to process the claims and payouts for these fee schedules.
Medical procedures do not have mandatory fee schedules as this depends on the patient's condition and complexity of the procedure. Any fee schedule published will also be done by the healthcare provider and not the insurer. That said, doctors may enter into contractual agreements with Integrated Shield Plan (IP) insurers to provide services at committed panel fees, which insurers can consider publishing.
On the Ministry of Health's (MOH's) part, it has developed private hospital fee benchmarks for about 30 common conditions to provide a reference of reasonable fees. Past bill sizes of common conditions can also be found on MOH's website, which is updated annually. Patients are encouraged to refer to them when choosing a healthcare provider.
MOH also monitors selected service indicators for private insurance. The claims processing duration for IP claims with payouts and pre-authorisation turnaround time for scheduled treatment for each insurer are published on MOH's website.
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