PRICES OF DRUGS (Publication on Ministry of Health website)

Column No : 1005

PRICES OF DRUGS:

(Publication on Ministry of Health website): 6.

Dr Tan Sze Wee asked the Minister for Health, in light of the successful publication of hospital bills which has led to greater transparency and reductions in hospital bill sizes, if his Ministry will consider publishing on the Ministry of Health website the prices offered to them by vendors for drugs, particularly the prices for common proprietary prescription medicine used in the treatment of acute illnesses such as antibiotics and of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.

The Minister for Health (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Sir, I thank Dr Tan Sze Wee for his support of my Ministry's efforts in publishing hospital bill sizes for common illnesses. It has, indeed, led to a more competitive landscape. The primary objective is to give patients more information, so that they can make more informed choices as to where they could seek treatment.

Dr Tan would like me to publish the prices charged by vendors to our hospitals. I am not keen, because these are micro-details which, I think, will clutter the information, causing confusion or distraction. In any case, the list prices of some proprietary prescription drugs are already in the public domain.

Dr Tan Sze Wee (Nominated Member): Sir, I thank the Minister for considering this question and also the very brief answer to the fact that this actually amounts to micro-managing it, which I think is the case. However, from the total bill cost point of view of a patient, drug component is an important aspect of it. Perhaps, instead of allowing the vendor prices or even the prices at which the hospital buys be disclosed, why not consider, for example, in order to facilitate the care to the private sector, if it is possible for participating doctors, GPs or even specialists to be able to partake in a scheme that the Ministry is actually enjoying in terms of the prices that they are getting, so that, perhaps, when the means test comes into place, such savings can be passed on to the public as well?

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Sir, I understand what Dr Tan has in mind. I think the fact of the matter is that, in most cases, the prices that we are able to get from vendors are probably among the lowest in Singapore. But that is pure economics, because we are the largest buyer of many of these products and, therefore, we enjoy a bulk discount. And the reason why the other healthcare providers, such as GPs or private doctors, would like to join in the scheme is because they are getting prices which are higher than the prices that we pay. But once you do that, then we will have one single buyer in Singapore, and I think vendors will take a different attitude. My priority is to the subsidised patients. So, I will work my best to try to get the lowest possible cost for the subsidised patients. If by extending my outreach and bringing in all the GPs under my web, I am quite sure the drug vendors will then take a very different attitude. So, when they compete in a tender today, they do take into account that 80% of

my clientele are subsidised patients. But if they know that the tender price would now be enjoyed by patients in private clinics and GPs, I think they would price it differently, it cannot be less. Then, who would suffer? I think the subsidised patients in public hospitals would be worse off. So I am sorry.

Mdm Cynthia Phua (Aljunied): Mr Speaker, Sir, is it possible to let patients know whether the drugs are standard or non-standard because standard drugs mean that they are subsidised by the Government hospitals?

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: It is so. I think the doctors convey that kind of information to the patients. In public hospitals, the bills are quite detailed and I insist on that because it should be properly itemised so that patients know what they are being charged for. That is why when patients are discharged from hospitals, and if they have stayed several days, the print-out of the bills can be quite long, because there are so many kinds of x-rays, laboratory tests and different kinds of drugs.

Pertaining to drugs, something that I always push for is printing of the prescription so that the patients can take away a properly printed prescription, especially for patients whose drugs are not subsidised either because they are private patients or because the drugs are non-standard. Then, they have a choice. Do they want to buy from SGH because they happen to be a patient there or they may go to Guardian pharmacy or even to Johor Bahru if they think they can get it cheaper but of similar quality? This is the sort of thing that we ought to promote nation-wide, not just in public hospitals but also in the private GP clinics. So, as patients, Singaporeans should demand their GPs for a properly printed out prescription.