Fee Benchmarks for Private Sector Charges

21 Nov 2023

What are fee benchmarks?

The fee benchmarks are the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) recommended charges for doctors and hospital fees in the private sector, for routine and typical cases. They inform what is a reasonable range of fees that patients and insurers could expect to pay, and serve as a reference for doctors and hospitals in setting their fees. Separate fee benchmarks apply for doctors and hospitals as they are usually separate entities in the private healthcare sector. The fee benchmarks do not apply to public hospitals.


What type of fee benchmarks are available?

At the recommendation of an independent Fee Benchmarks Advisory Committee (FBAC), MOH has introduced the following fee benchmarks:

  1. Hospital fee benchmarks for 21 procedures and 8 medical conditions
  2. Surgeon fee benchmarks for 2100 procedures on the Table of Surgical Procedures
  3. Anaesthetist fee benchmarks for 500 procedures on the Table of Surgical Procedures
  4. Doctors’ Inpatient Attendance fee benchmarks

Download full list of fee benchmarks: PDF version or XLSX version.


How do I use the fee benchmarks?

Before an admission to a private hospital or day surgery centre, you may wish to ask your doctor and hospital the following questions:

  • What is the Table of Surgical Procedures (TOSP) code or provisional diagnosis for my admission? What is the treatment or procedure for, and are there non-surgical interventions that I could consider?
  • What is the expected range of doctors’ and hospital fees for admission, and how do they compare to the MOH fee benchmarks? 
  • Are there any components of fees that would be charged by the doctor but not covered by his professional fees and billed through the hospital instead?
  • What is the breakdown of fees? Are there any other charges that I should be aware of? 

The fee benchmarks is a range, and actual fees charged by doctors or hospitals may vary depending on factors like complexity. Less complex cases may be charged at the lower end of the fee benchmarks range, while more complex cases could be at the higher end of the range.

Fees may exceed the fee benchmarks in cases of exceptional complexity, due to the additional risk, time and effort required for the procedure. In such rare circumstances, fees charged above the fee benchmarks may not be unreasonable. Your doctor or hospital should inform you in advance, where possible, should their fees exceed the fee benchmarks. If the fees counselled by your doctor or hospital are above the fee benchmarks, clarify with them to understand the reasons and detailed charges. 

If there is no applicable fee benchmark for your procedure or condition, you may wish to check with your doctor or hospital if there are other similar procedures or conditions that could be used as a reference. Alternatively, you may also refer to past bill sizes data published here by using this link. 

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Hospital, surgeon and anaesthetist fee benchmarks


Download full list of fee benchmarks: PDF version or XLSX version.

Click here to learn more

What are hospital fee benchmarks?
If you are admitted to a private hospital or day surgery centre, you would incur charges for items billed by the hospital or centre that are not the doctors’ professional fees (i.e., surgeon, anaesthetist, doctors’ inpatient attendance fees). These items (which collectively form the hospital fee benchmarks) include the hospital room and board charges, hospital or centre surgical facilities and equipment, implants, consumables, investigations and general nursing services and medications. The hospital fee benchmarks apply only to single-bedded room types for hospitalisation stays (unless otherwise stated for day surgeries) as it is the most common room choice in private hospitals. If you are admitted in other multi-bedded room, you may refer to past bill sizes information published here by using this link to help you compare prices across hospitals and room types. 

What are surgeon and anaesthetist fee benchmarks?

If you are undergoing a procedure in a private hospital or day surgery centre, you should expect to pay professional fees for a surgeon and an anaesthetist (if an anaesthetist is required):

  • The surgeon fee benchmarks cover the surgeon’s professional fees for his or her time and effort undertaken during a single surgery.  Where applicable, the fee range would also include:

    (i) Fees of any surgical assistants (doctors or nurses) used during surgery

    • (ii) Sedation fees if administered by the surgeon

  • The anaesthetist fee benchmarks cover the anaesthetist’s professional fees for providing anaesthesia in support of the surgery. This includes the pre-operative anaesthesia consultation immediately before the surgical procedure, anaesthetic care given during the surgery, and the immediate post-operative care and monitoring in the recovery unit.

Doctors' inpatient attendance fee benchmarks (for hospital stays)


Ward Type Office Hours*
per day
General Ward $210 to $420
High Dependency Unit $260 to $530
Intensive Care Unit
(Lower intensity ICU cases) 		$320 to $630
Click here to learn more

What are Doctors' inpatient attendance fee benchmarks?

If you are admitted in a private hospital for treatment, your doctor will visit you in the ward for consultations or reviews during your hospital stay. Such professional consultations or reviews are known as inpatient attendances and are chargeable. The fee range applies only to the doctor’s physical visit in your ward and does not include costs of medications, injections, operations, special procedures, investigations (e.g. radiological and laboratory tests), etc.

The recommended doctors’ inpatient attendance fee benchmarks for office hours is for daily fees covering the routine number of visits (that is typical of the specialty) a doctor may make to see the patient within the day. This includes both the first visit and repeat visits, on the same day:


Ward Type Office Hours*
per day
General Ward $210 to $420
High Dependency Unit $260 to $530
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
(Lower intensity ICU cases) 		$320 to $630

*Office hours may vary depending on the doctor’s practice, but is typically around a 9- to 10-hour cycle on weekdays (e.g. 8am to 6pm) and a 4- to 5-hour cycle on Saturdays (e.g. 8am to 1pm).


A doctor may sometimes be required to see a patient in the ward outside of his or her usual office hours.  In such cases, the fee benchmarks for after-office hours would apply.  The fee ranges for after-office hours are for each visit a doctor may make, on top of the routine consultations or reviews your doctor makes within the day during office hours. 

Ward Type After-office Hours^
Before midnight After midnight
per visit
General Ward $210 to $320 $320 to $420
High Dependency Unit $260 to $370 $370 to $530
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
(Lower intensity ICU cases) 		$320 to $480 $480 to $630

^Usually refers to visits where a doctor is called back on top of the routine consultations or reviews during office hours.