Flat rate for all under new healthcare system mulled

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The rich, like everybody else except the very poor, need only contribute a “flat rate” to enjoy quality healthcare under the planned National Health Financing Scheme.
“It’s not like the higher your salary, the higher you pay. It’s a flat rate. It’s a minimal amount,” said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
The scheme is not likely to be split into various sub-schemes to make people of different income levels pay differently, he told a press conference after opening a healthcare seminar here yesterday.
However, he said, those with higher incomes could opt to buy extra insurance to protect themselves if they want better medical services.
“If the rich want to have better service on top of what they already have, they can buy extra insurance,” he added, reiterating that the very poor would be exempted from contributing to the scheme.
“We always take care of the poor, they will not need to contribute. The Government will take care of their healthcare,” said Liow when commenting on a recent report that quoted him as saying that it would take another year before the scheme, designed to make healthcare affordable, can be implemented.
He had reportedly said that this was because it involves reviewing the Medical Act 1972.
Liow had announced in December last year that the Health Ministry was working on a plan to allow the public to seek medical treatment at private clinics without having to pay high medical fees.
He said the Government was considering paying a portion of the bill under the proposed plan.
Liow invited the public to give their views through the ministry’s website at www.moh.gov.my or his blog at www.liowtionglai.com