M’sians at risk of financial ruin

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must address its high rate of out-of-pocket payments for private healthcare services to prevent negative financial consequences to patients.

Such payments occur when patients go to private healthcare facilities and use their own savings to fund treatment , instead of some form of medical insurance.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said Malaysians’ total healthcare expenditure was RM45bil annually, of which nearly RM36bil was spent through out-of-pocket payments.

“According to international health organisations, any country with an out-of-pocket payment rate exceeding 15-20% has a higher risk of facing financial catastrophe.

“We acknowledge that for Malay­sia, the numbers are at an unhealthy level and the Government is looking at methods to reduce this rate,” he told reporters after launching the Association of Private Hospitals of Ma­­laysia international healthcare con­­ference and exhibition yesterday.

A financial catastrophe could occur when a patient goes for treatment at a private healthcare facility, but later requires other treatment which may cost a lot more than what was originally expected.

Patients with out-of-pocket payments may end up running out of funds after a certain stage, leaving them in a state of limbo as they cannot continue treatment.

“The Government is conducting a study on how best to overcome this situation and reduce the weaknesses in our national healthcare system.

“Insurance is good but not everyone can obtain it because of the types of schemes and their selection criteria, as well as coverage limitations,” said Dr Subramaniam.

He said only a small percentage of Malaysians had health or medical insurance, and given that there was no social health insurance, Malay­sians had become accustomed to paying their way for treatment.

“It has worked so far, but we can’t say the same for the future. We hope to find a formula to resolve this be­cause these patients might not conti­nue medical treatment once they run out of money.”