Materia Medica Malaysiana

Govt Losing RM8 Mil In Medical Fees From Immigrants

SITIAWAN, Dec 20 (Bernama) -- The government is unable to collect medical fees of more than RM8 million annually from immigrants who seek treatment at government hospitals nationwide.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Monday it was difficult to trace the immigrants and collect payment as many of them did not have a permanent address.
He said many government hospitals had also reported cases of women immigrants who disappear with their new-borns after giving birth to evade setting medical charges.
"There are also cases of immigrants using fake identity cards when registering as patients and instances where hospitals treat immigrants without any personal documents based on humanitarian grounds," he told reporters after opening the RM5.1 million Sitiawan Health Clinic here.
Dr Chua said the immigrants sought various treatments from government hospitals, including child delivery, surgery and outpatient treatment.
"I hope hospitals can be stricter when admitting immigrant patients. They need to verify the authenticity of personal documents to ensure that the vast allocation provided by the government for medical facilities benefits Malaysians," he said.
The amount of unpaid medical bills by immigrants in government hospitals is estimated to account for about eight per cent of the total medical charges that have yet to be collected.
Dr Chua said the ministry had collected RM125 million a year from the RM1 fee imposed on the public to receive treatment at government hospitals.
Earlier, during a visit to the Seri Manjung Hospital, he said district hospitals with specialists in certain fields should apply to the ministry to conduct housemanship for medical graduates.
"The fields include surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics and O&G (oncology and gynaecology). For the time being, 28 hospitals have offered 1,350 places for medical graduates to undergo their housemanship.
"District hospitals like Batu Pahat, Miri and Sandakan will also conduct such training. The number may not be enough in the next three years because of the increase in students pursuing medical courses now," he said.