9 December 2019

Revive Klinik 1Malaysia since private medical fees deregulated

On account of the Cabinet’s latest decision to deregulate the fee structure for private clinics, it is imperative that the Health Ministry consider reopening the Klinik 1Malaysia, so that families from poor backgrounds will not have their access to affordable healthcare snuffed out.

After the government’s move to close down Klinik 1Malaysia in 2018, this current decision to deregulate the consultation fee rates for private clinics will further push poor families to the brink, restricting their options for healthcare.

The closure of 34 Klinik 1Malaysia was attributed to it being not cost-effective; Following Cabinet approval, the closures was to be done via soft-landing. However, the current status remains an unknown to the Rakyat.

What is known to us, however, is that private sector doctors and dentists can now determine their own consultation fee rates with the abolition of restrictions placed healthcare consultation fees. Thus, it is foreseeable that the price of healthcare would spontaneously increase.

Financially-needy families should not be side-lined in policy making. As such, owing to how government hospitals are still notorious for overcrowding, the government ought to ensure that their decision to deregulate consultation fee rates does not hinder these families from seeking professional, affordable healthcare.

Daniel Wa Wai How

MCA Youth Secretary-General

-MCA online-