Consult consumers and medical industry first
Chua Tee YongPublished: Mar 6, 2014 4:24 AM | Updated: Mar 6, 2014 7:51 AM
The government’s decision to raise the medical fee of private clinics and medical centres across the board will cause the rakyat to suffer extra financial burden considering they are already struggling to cope with subsidy reductions and inflation.
According to news reports, the government had gazetted the amendment of the 13th Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and this will result in increases in medical fees charged by private clinics and medical centres.
In my opinion, there are still a lot of uncertain factors in the country especially under a situation where people’s income and economic growth are stagnant. The rakyat will face difficulty in coping with the medical fee hike. The increase in people’s income is not sufficient to cope with the inflationary pressure and the economic prospect is expected to be challenging.
Before making such an amendment, the government should consult the consumers and the medical industry to ensure that the increase will not become another burden to the public.
The decision to increase medical fees should have taken the low-income group into consideration as they will need to be admitted into private medical centres when there are insufficient doctors and beds at government hospitals.
The new medical fees are also causing the public to worry, eg when they must undergo emergency surgery at private medical centres, the new price rates will become a financial burden to them.
The medical fee hike will trigger a series of chain reaction like an escalation in medical insurance premiums. This will add further financial burden to low and middle income families.
MCA proposes that the government should expand the capacity of government hospitals to receive more patients and set up more Klinik 1Malaysia to provide quality medical services to the low income group.
We urge the government to set up a special task force to monitor and study the impact of the medical fee hike on the public and also provide suggestions on private medical services so that a low and middle income group-friendly policy can be drafted to address the issue.
CHUA TEE YONG is MCA vice-president and Member of Parliament for Labis.
According to news reports, the government had gazetted the amendment of the 13th Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and this will result in increases in medical fees charged by private clinics and medical centres.
In my opinion, there are still a lot of uncertain factors in the country especially under a situation where people’s income and economic growth are stagnant. The rakyat will face difficulty in coping with the medical fee hike. The increase in people’s income is not sufficient to cope with the inflationary pressure and the economic prospect is expected to be challenging.
Before making such an amendment, the government should consult the consumers and the medical industry to ensure that the increase will not become another burden to the public.
The decision to increase medical fees should have taken the low-income group into consideration as they will need to be admitted into private medical centres when there are insufficient doctors and beds at government hospitals.
The new medical fees are also causing the public to worry, eg when they must undergo emergency surgery at private medical centres, the new price rates will become a financial burden to them.
The medical fee hike will trigger a series of chain reaction like an escalation in medical insurance premiums. This will add further financial burden to low and middle income families.
MCA proposes that the government should expand the capacity of government hospitals to receive more patients and set up more Klinik 1Malaysia to provide quality medical services to the low income group.
We urge the government to set up a special task force to monitor and study the impact of the medical fee hike on the public and also provide suggestions on private medical services so that a low and middle income group-friendly policy can be drafted to address the issue.
CHUA TEE YONG is MCA vice-president and Member of Parliament for Labis.
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