RM177m aid for 92,494 heart patients

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The Government forked out RM177mil to pay for 92,494 heart patients who could not afford to pay for their treatment last year.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said the patients included those from the lower income group, and government servants and their immediate family members.
“My ministry either absorbed the full amount of treatment or the patients paid half,” he said at the presentation of a three-year accreditation status by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) to the National Heart Institute (IJN) yesterday.
“This figure is expected to rise based on the increasing number of heart patients registered at IJN.
“In 2005, 130,743 people sought outpatient treatment at IJN, and this is a 7% increase over the 122,346 patients the year before.”