THE Ministry of Health's (MOH) decision to insure only government obstetricians has naturally drawn the ire of private sector obstetricians ("MOH to cover obstetricians in retirement"; Monday).
There are more obstetricians in private practice than in the public institutions, and the private sector sees more patients and delivers more babies than the public sector.
The private sector also handles many complex cases, relieving some of the public institutions' burden.
The private sector contributes significantly to Singapore's healthcare system, so many private obstetricians have taken umbrage at the MOH's decision to insure only doctors under their employment, considering this discriminatory and unfair.
At the core of the matter, obstetrics is the study of abnormal pregnancies, since normal pregnancies were, in the past, attended to by midwives; so obstetricians should not be doing a lot of business out of normal pregnancies.
However, with the way the field is practised in the private sector today all over the world,
it is the only discipline in medicine where the practitioner profits lucratively from a largely benign and natural event.
And it has been market forces that have shaped and supported this practice.
The ministry is still sorting out some details of the insurance coverage, such as what happens should the obstetrician move to the private sector instead of working until retirement in public hospitals.
I hope coverage will be extended to those in private practice.
Wong Mun Tat (Dr)
There are more obstetricians in private practice than in the public institutions, and the private sector sees more patients and delivers more babies than the public sector.
The private sector also handles many complex cases, relieving some of the public institutions' burden.
The private sector contributes significantly to Singapore's healthcare system, so many private obstetricians have taken umbrage at the MOH's decision to insure only doctors under their employment, considering this discriminatory and unfair.
At the core of the matter, obstetrics is the study of abnormal pregnancies, since normal pregnancies were, in the past, attended to by midwives; so obstetricians should not be doing a lot of business out of normal pregnancies.
However, with the way the field is practised in the private sector today all over the world,
it is the only discipline in medicine where the practitioner profits lucratively from a largely benign and natural event.
And it has been market forces that have shaped and supported this practice.
The ministry is still sorting out some details of the insurance coverage, such as what happens should the obstetrician move to the private sector instead of working until retirement in public hospitals.
I hope coverage will be extended to those in private practice.
Wong Mun Tat (Dr)
