25th
November
2009
Government to subsidise treatment at private clinics
posted in - Nation, - Palmdoc |From The Star
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai says the public can soon seek medical treatment at private clinics without having to pay a hefty sum. The government is considering paying a portion of the bill under a proposed healthcare reform plan.
Considering is still some way to go before implementation and we don’t know the details….
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November 26th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
yes, he mentioned. ‘think out of the box’.. not sure if he’s talking bout the political coffin which he had got himself into.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hmm… I wonder if MOH really has the money to fork out for this. When I was in Putrajaya, they were trying to review the current fees under the Act so I guess there will be increase revenue from collection (but I don’t think it will be that much higher).
Perhaps the PHFSA would incorporate a ceiling on charges, so that MOH could control the costs of private healthcare should they intend to subsidise part of it..
When there’s a ceiling, that means private practitioners’ pot of gold would be limited.. hmmmmm….
November 28th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
nazlihaffiz,
Are you a student, doctor or working for the health ministry? HELLO, There are already ceiling on charges my friend, the same fees that has been in existence since 1980s.
Also, the pot of ‘gold’of private healthcare is on the part of hospitals. Maybe this could be a convenient fact ignored by those who are drawing up the policy. Hospital board of directors can sometimes look like a who’s who’s family from parliament.
If the ministry has eyes and ears to ‘listen’ the rakyat’s needs, it should take note that doctor bashing as a PR strategy is only going to ultimately drive the good doctors overseas when the liberalization of healthcare takes place.
The quality of delivery will go down as demand rises, well on its way to a state of collapse. By then, the fat cats and their spin doctors will be rolling in their money.
This is an issue that the medical community should not be silent on, unless it accepts being silent on the issue forever.
December 3rd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
The NZ system of capitation works quite well, am not sure whether it would work in Malaysia. The gov basically funds a certain amount of money to the GP practice, based on the number of patients enrolled. Eg: $50 for each patient per year, for 5000 patients in a locality, totalling to about $250,000 subsidy. More subsidies are given for GPs who work in areas with greater poverty, geographical barriers etc.
To receive that funding, the GP must cap his/her fees for as many visits per year from each patient enrolled (Eg: Instead of charging $60, they have to charge $45). Thus, patients would enjoy subsidised fees from the GP that they enroll with.
This is good for the GP in getting similar or more income and good for the patients in getting subsidised GP fees. It shift the public hospital burden to community GPs in cost effectively, without replicating Government GP practices (ala 1Malaysia clinics). It is a genuine public-private collaboration in primary health care.
Enrollment with the local community with specific GPs also ensure continuity of care, reduce “local medical tourism/doctor shopping”, greater GP-community relationship and better coordination of public health programmes in these GP practices like screening, health education etc.
Besides, the problems of getting GPs to work at rural and poor localities can be reduced, with greater targetted subsidies for GPs working in high-needs community. The lower income of GPs serving poorer communities, will be offset by greater subsidies by the government, making it equally attractive to work in areas of high need.
I think the MOH needs not only to think “out of the box” and do random changes here and there, but to seriously think of revamping the whole structure of the Malaysian health system and funding.
Liow Tiong Lai should stop politicking and start working hard to improve healthcare delivery in Malaysia.