30 August, 2017
The Ministry of Health Holdings ("MOHH") has arranged for all 9,000 public sector doctors to move to a new insurer, Aon, once their current cover expires. The insurance covers legal and compensation costs, if doctors are sued by patients.
At present, most doctors are insured by Medical Protection Society ("MPS"). Last year, MPS insured 11,000 doctors in Singapore, of which, more than 6,500 were from the public sector. As such, this new change will see the number of doctors that MPS covers drop by more than half.
This change may be precipitated by the reduction in tail cover by MPS. Tail cover is the coverage for future suits against incidents that occurred while the doctor was insured, even after he has left practice. It is important as doctors can be sued up to three years from the time the patient becomes aware of any negligence, and obstetricians can be sued up to 24 years after the birth of a child. In 2015, MPS reduced the annual premium for obstetricians from $36,000 a year to just over $22,000, and at the same time, stopped coverage once a doctor stops paying the annual premium.
Although MPS claims that premiums are not determined by the number of doctors insured, others from the industry say that the premiums are likely to increase because there are less people sharing the company's fixed administration costs. If this is true, private healthcare costs may also rise as a result.
More details can be found in the article here.
For further information, please contact:
Andy Leck, Principal, Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow
andy.leck@bakermckenzie.com
