Private doctors can set own fees as SMA drops guidelines

Straits Times (p1) reported yesterday that private doctors here are free to set their own fees from now, instead of referring to guidelines drawn up by the Singapore Medical Association (SMA). The SMA agreed to withdraw the guidelines during its annual general meeting on Sunday after receiving word that the guide could be in contravention of the recently- enacted competition code. Since the Competition Act was enacted last year, the SMA has been grappling with the legality of the guidelines. It consulted its lawyers and was told the guidelines could be illegal. The SMA had several misgivings about withdrawing them. But the commission reiterated a section of the Act stating that 'recommendations of a trade association in relation to price...may be considered to be price-fixing, regardless of the form it takes'. The chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health Halimah Yacob expressed dismay at the change and said: 'Health care is an important public good that should be exempted from the competition code.' The 'greatest casualty', she said, will be transparency.

The Health Ministry told The Straits Times yesterday that under its guidelines for private hospitals and medical clinics, doctors are encouraged to publish their consultation charges before seeing patients. A separate law under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Regulations also requires hospital managers to inform patients before or on admission the estimated total charges for their stay. It said it will continue to publish pricing data and historical price trends on its website. CNA and 早报 (p3) carried similar reports. CNA added that the SMA will be conducting a survey later this year to find out the prices of the various charges in primary care clinics.