Materia Medica Malaysiana

Hospitals to raise charges for foreigners

JOHOR BARU: Foreigners seeking treatment in government hospitals will soon have to pay more.

Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the revised fee would reflect that charged by private hospitals, as the RM2 currently imposed on foreigners was “way too low.”

“We have yet to decide on the amount, but some parties have suggested that they should be charged RM5 or RM10.

“We will have to study the matter and look at what the market is charging before finalising the new fee,” he told reporters after opening the third biennial cardiopulmonary bypass conference yesterday.

Dr Chua declined to comment when asked if the fee imposed on locals seeking treatment at government hospitals and clinics would also be raised but admitted that the RM1 fee was “unreasonably low.”

“Even in Beijing, China, one has to pay the equivalent of RM15 when one seeks treatment from a government hospital whereas in Malaysia, it is only RM1.

“This shows how heavily subsidised the public health sector is, “ he added.

Dr Chua said the ministry received RM6.3bil in allocation last year, which was a four-fold increase compared with the RM1.6bil it was allocated in 1990.

He said the previous time the fee was increased was from 50 sen to RM1 in the 1980s.

On vacancies, Dr Chua said 620 foreign doctors had been recruited recently and another 520 foreign doctors would be recruited to fill current vacancies.

“However, this is only a short-term measure as employing foreign doctors will not solve the problem of shortage,” he said.

On another matter, Dr Chua said the ministry would concentrate on advocating “preventive medicine” under the 9th Malaysia Plan, where promotional programmes on healthy living and lifestyle would be conducted.

He said this was to prevent the public from indulging in sedentary and unhealthy lifestyles and to check the ministry’s budget from escalating