By MP for Aljunied GRC, Pritam Singh
[Delivered in Committee of Supply on 12 March 2015]
Mdm Chair, the MOH’s Standard Drugs List does not include the price of drugs, much less a breakdown of the cost of drugs in public or private hospitals or between private and subsidized patients. The MOH website points to the Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore (PSS) website for prices of drugs prescribed for common conditions, but the PSS only covers medication for asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure and lipids. The list also does not appear to be updated as regularly – it was last updated in September 2013.
Minister mentioned in his speech last year at the official opening of the Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital that the “Government has been a strong advocate of information transparency” and wants to “work to improve transparency of healthcare charges” so that patients can make informed decisions. To this end, would public hospitals take the lead and extend this philosophy to publishing the price of all drugs sold as the logical next step after publishing the costs of surgical procedures – a move which has been well received by many Singaporeans – in order to reduce the information asymmetry for patients and to lower costs as a result.
Minister has also previously mentioned that different cost structures and purchasing decisions amongst other reasons account for the flexibility afforded to the various hospitals to purchase drugs directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers, even if they are all subject to general subsidy guidelines, and that some drugs are used to cross-subsidise others that may be very expensive. To this end, the price of drugs would logically vary at different public and private hospitals. However, publishing the price of drugs can potentially result in more competitive pricing by pharmaceutical companies, and between hospitals even, effectively lowering the cost of drugs for Singaporeans and in the short to medium term, for the Government too when it bulk purchases drugs.
Mdm Chair, these calls for greater transparency in the healthcare sector with regard to the pricing of drugs are not new. The Finance Minister during his closing speech of the Budget debate, identified healthcare financing as key fiscal challenge with the government’s projected healthcare spending expected to triple to S$12 billion a year by 2020, up from S$4 billion in 2011. Would the Ministry consider publishing the price of drugs as a pillar of a strategy to better manage the prospect of rising healthcare costs in Singapore, and if not, can the Minister identify the factors which prevent the Ministry from publishing the price of drugs in view of rising healthcare expenditure in the years to come.