KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will conduct public hearings for the first time to address rising medical insurance premiums and private healthcare costs.
PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin announced that the first session will be held at the AC Marriott Hotel in Bukit Jambul, Penang, on Feb 14, followed by a second session at the Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 21.
"The PAC welcomes the interim measure by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government and Bank Negara Malaysia to cap the increase on insurance premiums, but a long-term solution must be determined," she said at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 12).
She added that the PAC aims to assist the government in drafting Private Healthcare Reforms through comprehensive proceedings with stakeholders, including obtaining public views and feedback.
"For the first time, the PAC will hold a public hearing on the rising medical insurance and takaful premiums, private healthcare costs, and their impact on public healthcare, which involves the Finance Ministry, Health Ministry, and Bank Negara," she explained.
The public hearing will be moderated by Bayan Baru MP and PAC member Sim Tze Tzin.
Mas Ermieyati stated that the hearings would include participation from the public, complainants affected by premium hikes, insurance company representatives, private hospital representatives, the medical fraternity, civil society groups, and academics.
As of Friday (Feb 7), 243 respondents have signed up, with 71 in Penang and 172 in Kuala Lumpur.
Following the public hearing, the PAC will continue proceedings in Parliament and summon witnesses from the relevant ministries and agencies.
Inputs from the public hearing will be included in the report to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.
Sim, who also attended the press conference, noted that the issue of medical inflation in private healthcare has garnered significant public response, and the hearing will offer an opportunity for reasonable public inputs to reform the private healthcare system.
He emphasised that this is the PAC’s attempt to make Parliament more people-centric rather than making decisions solely within the august House.
The issue of price surges in private hospitals and insurance premiums, and their impact on public healthcare infrastructure, is among the committee's main orders of business scheduled for 2025.
