Full-Paying Scheme Is A Pilot Project, Says Health D-G

PUTRAJAYA, March 14 (Bernama) -- The full-paying patients scheme which is likely to be implemented at the Putrajaya and Selayang hospitals in June is a pilot project, Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Ismail Merican said Tuesday.
He said the project would be implemented for six months or a year and a study would be done to see the benefits and disadvantages for the people and healthcare providers before extending it to the other government hospitals,
It would be insensible and unthinkable to implement something as major as this without having a pilot project, he told reporters after a dialogue with the Coalition Against Health Care Privatisation comprising 81 NGOs here.
He also said that the full-paying concept was a mechanism for patients who could afford to pay for the healthcare services.
Under the concept, the patients will be charged for the service given based on the rate certified by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).
"I did mention that this is probably interim, when the healthcare financing comes later, as decided by the government, then maybe we can look at other ways of keeping doctors in government service," he said.
He said it was important to ensure that specialists remained in government service to provide specialist care for the people.
On the National Health Financing Scheme, Dr Ismail said he could not elaborate because it was under the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in Prime Minister's Department.
Meanwhile, coalition chairman Dr Subramanian Pillay said they were not satisfied with the explanation given by Dr Ismail.
"Our argument is we feel that not only government doctors but also the other medical staff should be better paid. We feel the government should spend more money on healthcare and improve their salary," he said.