THERE is no reason why the public should accept the opaque business practices of health-care practitioners, as described by Mr Chan Chong Pak ("Simple way to rein in abuse of health-care claims"; yesterday).
To safeguard taxpayer funds as well as the integrity of the health-care industry, we need to create a unit, known perhaps as the Healthcare Fraud Bureau, to monitor subsidies claimed by the 1,300 general practitioner and dental clinics that accept the Community Health Assist Scheme and Pioneer Generation cards. The unit could use sophisticated software to pick up anomalies in billing and claim patterns.
For starters, health-care professionals should be required to issue detailed invoices to patients, as suggested by Mr Chan. With actual patient invoices, fraudulent claims can be detected easily.
We need stringent and punitive legislation to deter doctoring of claims. The "soft" approach of clawing back excessive claims is not effective.
Abusing social welfare subsidies is a crime against society, and offenders should be dealt with in the criminal courts, and not in a disciplinary council hearing.
Paul Chan Poh Hoi
