KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called for the Health Ministry (KKM) to be given powers to regulate private hospital charges beyond doctors’ fees.
The committee said unchecked non-professional charges have become a key driver of rising healthcare costs.
The recommendation is part of a PAC report on rising health insurance premiums, private hospital charges and their impact on the public healthcare system.
It comes amid growing concerns over the affordability of medical treatment and insurance coverage.
PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the committee found that the main cause of medical inflation was not doctors’ professional fees.
These fees have been regulated under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 since 2013.
Instead, the inflation is driven by escalating non-professional charges imposed by private hospitals.
These include charges for medicines, medical supplies, laboratory tests, advanced medical technologies and rising hospital operating costs.
“As a step towards improvement, PAC recommends that KKM amend Act 586 to empower the ministry to regulate private hospital service charges beyond doctors’ fees,” she said in a statement on Wednesday (June 24).
The committee also found that the absence of a standardised billing structure in private hospitals made it difficult for patients to determine the actual cost of services and basic items.
According to the report, some hospitals imposed separate charges for basic items such as clinical waste disposal, pillowcases and alcohol swabs.
The PAC said these items should ordinarily be included under room or basic service charges.
“PAC also found instances of price discrimination, where patients using guarantee letters (GLs) were charged higher rates than those paying cash or using the pay-and-claim method.”
The committee further highlighted concerns over high mark-ups throughout the medicine supply chain.
It added that generic medicines in hospitals were sometimes priced higher than branded alternatives.
To address the issue, PAC recommended that the Health Ministry and the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry establish mechanisms to regulate the prices of medicines and medical equipment to prevent excessive profiteering.
The committee also urged the government to expedite the implementation of the Diagnosis-Related Group payment system in the private healthcare sector.
It recommended fully rolling out healthcare reform initiatives under the Reset framework to help control treatment costs and insurance premiums over the long term.
