The new ruling, if approved, will definitely be beneficial to consumers as it will help weed out unethical health institutions which charges their patients at an exorbitant rate. Without a proper price schedule, there’s no way a consumer can protect themselves after they are half-way cut up in the operation theatre.
“The MMA Schedule of Fees is now only a guideline to private hospitals, but after the ruling they must follow the schedule of fees.
“Otherwise, they will be considered to be breaking the law and action, such as fines and revoking their medical practising licences, can be taken,� he said, in replying to a question by Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN – Larut) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Source: The Star
Back in the days when health care plan with medical card was introduced, abuse was rampant, as unethical doctors and health institutions took it as a chance to profit from unwary patients and insurance companies. Surgeries are made for the sake of charging a higher fee, though it’s often unnecessary.
An FAQ on medical cards from Malaysia’s Medical Association is available here. (their website definitely need a re-design, information are rather “scattered” and difficult to find)
It’s due to such irresponsible act that the medical card plans are reviewed and more terms and conditions has been included. Some measures taken by insurance companies included:
- Increase in premiums by between 20% and 30%;
- Scraping family packages and charging individual premiums;
- Pay first, claim later ? under which those seeking treatment have to pay the medical fees first and claim the amount from the insurance company later;
- Co-Insurance where 10% of the medical bills to be borne by policyholders. One insurance company, which used to charge a family of five RM600 in annual premium under Sihat Malaysia, has scrapped this facility and is now charging individual premiums, which could amount to RM 3,589. A company official said this was to offset the dramatic increase in claims made by private hospitals.
Medical card plans has matured over the years, and consumer can even choose to own
a) Stand-alone Medical Cards Plan
- renewed on a yearly basis (subject to company’s approval)
- co-insurance 10%
- no return of premium
- most come with “second-opinion”
- generally lower premium than ILP linked medical card but increase on a term-basis
b) Investment-linked Medical Card Plan
- guaranteed renewal up to 70-75 years, depending on insurer’s policy
- most doesn’t come with co-insurance, which mean entire cost in covered by insurer.
- with return of premium, though the return in non-guaranteed. It’s advisable that you ask for a realistic projection.
- generally higher premium than stand-alone medical card but premium is most likely fixed as long as insurance charges is covered by the investment units.
You might want to read these too...
- Investment-Linked Insurance Policy: An Overview- Part 1
- ING Insurance Talks With Eight Private Hospitals Fall Through
- ING De-listing Medical Centres?
- Holy Coconuts!
- Say No to Spin Doctors
- Panel Hospitals for American International Assurance (AIA) Berhad
- EPF Evasion
- The State of Malaysia's Health Care System
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Jess
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yowchuan
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Oysterman
