KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry does not regulate facilities fees imposed by private healthcare facilities.
In a parliamentary written reply, the ministry said the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) only regulates professional fees, which are in the form of consultation fees.
The Act 586 has set a maximum ceiling price for consultation fees.
“The treatment cost at private healthcare facilities includes professional fees for healthcare professionals and facilities fees,” it said.
“Facilities fees, which include nurses' services, medical device charges, consumables(needle, syringe, gauze, and others), and lab test charges, are not regulated by MOH,” it added.
MOH said this in response to a question by Yeo Bee Yin(PH-Puchong) on the steps taken to ensure that private facilities impose the same charges for insured and non-insured patients as well as those who use guarantee letters or pay on a pay-and-claim basis.
To address this, the ministry said each hospital must have grievance procedures for complaints.
Private facilities must also adhere to the fee structure outlined by Act 586.
Private hospitals also offer financial counselling services, through which patients can obtain information on the estimated fees before treatment begins.
To another question by Yeo about steps taken to control medical inflation, which could reach 10%, the ministry said certain steps have been taken to address this issue.
This includes price transparency to allow consumers to make comparisons, the Rakan KKM premium economy service at government healthcare facilities and the introduction of the Diagnosis-related-group (DRG) system.
The ministry has also expanded its strategic buying mechanism, which allows private facilities to make bulk purchases and offer their services at reasonable prices.
