Govt says no to posting of docs' fee guides
Govt says no to posting of docs' fee guides
Tue, Jun 08, 2010
The Straits Times
By Salma Khalik
THE Government has decided not to allow a doctors' group to post fee guidelines which it says risks anti-competitive behaviour by recommending charges, and would do little to keep health-care costs down.
In turning down an appeal by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said the market is competitive, and public sector fees, many of which are online, act as a benchmark.
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The SMA had appealed to MTI in October 2008 to let it reinstate pricing guidelines which it had withdrawn in 2007 after being advised by lawyers that they contravened the Competition Act.
According to SMA, the fee guidelines increase the information available to patients on the prices of medical services, thus preventing overcharging and keeping health-care costs down.
However MTI, in consultation with MOH, has assessed that MOH's current and continuing measures to improve information transparency better serves this purpose.
MOH's measures include publishing actual medical fees on its website, requiring hospitals to provide financial counselling to patients and requiring medical bills to be itemised.
These measures provide more information as they are based on actual prices rather than on a system of recommended fees set by a group of doctors.
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Originally Posted by TeeKee
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