KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will commence closed-door proceedings on the rise of health insurance premiums and hospital charges under the Finance Ministry, the Health Ministry and Bank Negara.
PAC vice-chairman Teresa Kok said the proceedings beginning Monday will be the first of 10 closed-door sessions. Previously, there were two public hearings on the matter with one in Penang on Feb 14 and the other in Parliament yesterday.
“All statements obtained from public hearings will be included in the PAC report that will be brought to the Dewan Rakyat,” said Kok, who noted that the report could be tabled in Parliament as early as the second half of this year.
According to Kok, the public hearing in Parliament saw the presence of about 550 individuals, while the first public hearing in Penang had 180 people.
“A total of 730 people attended both public hearings,” she said during a press conference in Parliament after the second public hearing yesterday.
Present in Parliament were PAC members Ku Abdul Rahman Ku Ismail (Kubang Pasu), Dr Halimah Ali (Kapar), Dr Richard Rapu (Betong) and Sim Tze Tzin (Bayan Baru), who was moderating the public hearing.
According to Sim, public complaints mainly centred on the steep increase of insurance premiums and the exorbitant charges of private hospitals.
“They saw the difference between having a guarantee letter and self-payment. There is a big difference. They felt it was unfair and the rise in hospital fees caused their premiums to rise.
“So, some people could not afford their insurance premiums and they resorted to public hospitals, which caused long queues.”
Sim stressed that healthcare is a basic human right and the public needs a good public healthcare system.
“That is why PAC started the ball rolling to solve this issue.”
Sim said the closed-door proceedings will address various healthcare issues, including monopolies on medicine manufacturing, procurement of locally produced medical equipment, among others.
“For example, in Bayan Baru, there are 30 companies manufacturing medical equipment and if they can export it overseas, they can also supply to local hospitals at a cheaper rate.”
Sim also said the PAC will propose the amendments of several laws if there is a need to do so.
“We will look at which Act needs to be amended. There are many issues in this ecosystem, as not just private healthcare is involved, but also Bank Negara on the financial services act,” added Sim.
Dr Halimah, who spoke after Sim, said the turnout at the public hearing yesterday was impressive.
“We hope the government will place emphasis on this issue, because we don’t want one crisis after another. That is why we are holding 12 PAC proceedings and this is a signal that we are taking it seriously,” added Dr Halimah.
Many individuals were seen bringing along their hospital bills and they shared experiences of experiencing exorbitant medical charges.
Among those present were insurance agents, representatives of organisations, civil servants who had served in the healthcare industry and medical practitioners themselves.
