The Life Insurance Association, Singapore (LIA) has in a statement expressed its support of the establishment of the Clinical Claims Resolution Process (CCRP).
The CCRP is a new process that will bring together medical professionals (through the Academy of Medicine Singapore) and private payers (through the LIA) to jointly assess clinically related Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) claims disputes.
“This is an important step toward the long-term sustainability of IPs in Singapore. The structured approach provided by the CCRP can help to ensure proper and consistent resolution of clinically related IP claims disputes, which would be to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said the LIA in a statement.
Even prior to establishment of the Multilateral Healthcare Insurance Committee (MHIC), IP insurers have been active in expanding their preferred provider panels.
According to the LIA, there has been significant growth in the size of panels since the start of this year, and insurers have since committed at the MHIC that they will aim to have panels of at least 500 private sector specialists by the end of 2021. This will help to ensure that policyholders have access to sufficient specialists to meet the majority of their needs.
Given the complexity of the IP ecosystem, there are inevitable tensions between the interests of different parties and the LIA has consistently called for all stakeholders to come together to resolve these issues.
“The MHIC has been a useful platform to surface, discuss, and address the necessary trade-offs. While progress has been made, there remains much to be done. LIA Singapore is committed to working through the MHIC to help ensure the long-term sustainability of the IP ecosystem for the good of policyholders,” said the association.