Saturday, January 27, 2018

Extend the scope of medical fee benchmark

I welcome the move by the Health Minister to set up a panel to recommend the fee benchmark for common medical procedures in hospitals. (http://www.straitstimes.com/…/committee-set-up-to-recommend…)

I suggest that the benchmark should include all the tests and the pre and post-operation charges related to the medical procedure. These additional charges could add up to a significant part of the total cost of the procedure.

Perhaps the committee can also address the situation where a patient who is treated for a specific condition has to pay the charges for other conditions that are discovered during the cost of treatment. For these complicated conditions, the medical fees can be very high. The patient or the family is usually not able to decide on the medical necessity of the related treatments.

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