KUALA LUMPUR – PKR lawmakers are bringing the fight to high charges imposed by private hospitals, following Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) reveal of interim measures to help manage the impact of medical and health insurance and takaful (MHIT) premium adjustments.
In a joint statement today, the government MPs said that while it welcomes the central bank’s initiative, they also understand that the root cause of healthcare inflation can be linked to high costs exacted by private hospitals.
As such, they called on private hospital patients who have faced unreasonable charges to submit their complaints to aduan.pkr.hospital.insurans@gmail.com.
“We call on the rakyat to continue standing by us in our struggle to create a sustainable and affordable private healthcare ecosystem that is a win-win for all parties. This is a long and difficult struggle.
“A sustainable private healthcare ecosystem will save public hospitals from overcrowding and ease government funding, thus helping the B40 group to secure better treatment from government hospitals,” they added.
The statement was undersigned by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, Tebrau MP Jimmy Pua Wee Tse, Sungai Petani MP Mohammed Taufiq Johari, Miri MP Chiew Choon Mun, Segamat MP Yuneswaran Ramaraj and Senator Manolan Mohamad.
The statement detailed that based on BNM and the Health Ministry’s previous briefing to MPs, it was found that private healthcare institutions imposed differing and questionable medical charges on patients.
They said that dengue patients who use a guarantee letter (GL) will pay RM4,978 while a “pay-and-claim” patient will only pay RM1,288. Pneumonia patients under pay-and-claim are charged RM2,654 while those who use GL will pay three times the price at RM6,859.
“BNM also showed high hospital supplies and services (HSS) charges, between 59% to 70%, out of the whole medical bill. HSS components consist of items such as laboratory and imaging, drugs, nursing, medical equipment – including medical ventilators and dialysis machines – and other miscellaneous items.
“Most consumables, which vary from one hospital to another, are also not regulated by any government agency,” they added.
Sim had previously shared with the media that among the nearly 200 complaints received, one was a case where a man had to undergo the same operation a second time at a public hospital after the private hospital he went to first did a botched job.
The difference in the bills from the private hospital and the public hospital which did the same procedure and more, was RM140,000.
In a separate complaint, a man said that he and his wife had sought cataract treatment from a doctor at a private hospital. The man claimed that while he was charged RM3,000 per eye, his wife, who utilised her insurance policy, was slapped with a charge double the amount.
Yesterday, BNM said insurers and takaful operators (ITOs) will be required to spread out changes in premiums over a minimum of three years for all policyholders affected by the repricing.
Noting that the measure will remain in place until the end of 2026, the central bank said that at least 80% of policyholders are expected to experience yearly premium adjustments due to medical claims inflation.
BNM also said communications on these measures by ITOs to individual policyholders will take place progressively. Policyholders can also contact their respective ITOs from January 15, 2025.
ITOs, as well as BNM, had previously cited rising medical costs, an increasing number of insurance claims or greater utilisation of policies, as among the reasons for raising premiums. – December 21, 2024
