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Malaysia Healthcare Costs
Like most of its developing nation Pacific Rim contemporaries, Malaysia's economy is growing in leaps and bounds, and while this means that a lot of money is pouring into the country and continually changing hands, it also means that Malaysia's healthcare system is now facing some major growing pains.
The challenge to continuously providing excellence in health care that tops the chart on everyone’s list is money.
Government subsidized health centers state that there is simply not enough funding to keep up with the demand to care for the general public's needs.
Private healthcare facilities must also continuously raise rates to keep up with global inflation in order to maintain the highest possible standard of care possible, and meet their patients needs and expectations.
Of course, the general public feels the strain of price increases the most as they are the ones reaching into their pockets every time they need treatment or attention.
The cost of healthcare in Malaysia has been on the rise in recent years at an average of about 15% annually. To put that into perspective, it means that the cost for medical treatment doubles about every six years.
Malaysia Public Healthcare Cost
According to former director-general of the Malaysian Health Ministry -Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Khalid Sahan, medical attention is a guaranteed right of every citizen in Malaysia, regardless of ability to pay.
This is a noble goal and admirably, Malaysia does a better job of caring for the needs of its citizens than some other countries with universal healthcare schemes, but the truth is that both the insured and uninsured are at times forced to wait a long time to get treatment due to over worked public healthcare outlets and doctors who are required to give care to all. This creates little incentive in the minds of many Malaysians to get insurance if they can access the same public care without it.
So the cost of public medical care may not have a high monitory figure attached to it, but time and peace of mind are hard to put a price on.
The actual cost of treatments at a public hospital in Malaysia are typically still reasonably affordable, often five to ten times cheaper than equivalent private care, and still largely within reach of the average Malaysian who will only have to make a small co-payment if anything at all.
Those who are enrolled in the public healthcare scheme are required to pay a percentage of their income to a super-fund to cover health care treatments. The problem is that even non-enrolled individuals benefit from this fund's protection, which means that the fund is rapidly depleting and the government cannot sustain the level of contribution it has been making toward public health for the past several years
This is a similar problem that is being faced by well-meaning government agencies around the world. In Malaysia the solution seems obvious: increase required contributions, or change the way the system is administered completely.
Both options have met opposition.
One plan calls for creating an entirely new healthcare administering system called '1Care' which will be offered for enrollment and will require 10% of income to be allocated to fund the new program. Average Malaysians are claiming that they simply cannot afford that kind of price increase.
For more information on the proposed '1Care' plan, read the links below:
- Privatisation of Healthcare Turns Election Issue
- Dissent grows over rumoured healthcare tax under ‘1 Care’ scheme
Malaysia Private Healthcare Cost
For those frustrated by the rate increases of public care, the cost of private healthcare in Malaysia will prove absolutely shocking.
With this cost however, comes expertise. Malaysia's private healthcare centers are now ranked as some of the best in the world, offering virtually any type of standard and specialist care, and are even a popular destination for some living outside Malaysia in need of care that may be yet more affordable or is simply unavailable in their home country.
Well known as medical care for the “well-to-do”, the care offered through Malaysia's private healthcare system is as much about eliminating lines and wait-times as it is about comfortable surroundings. These reasons, as well as a much more favorable doctor to patient ratio make private care the first choice of those who can afford it.
As a result of the world economic downturn, more and more people are turning back to government provided healthcare as a means of saving money, afraid of the huge bills that may come with private treatment, but this can be avoided with a private health insurance policy.
It is generally accepted that a private health insurance plan is a good investment, and currently this type of coverage remains affordable, which is good news since public health coverage is not available for everyone in Malaysia. To learn more about the cost of private insurance coverage in Malaysia, read this article:
As mentioned above, anyone not employed by a Malaysian company will likely decide that a private policy is their best choice for health insurance coverage since public coverage is out of the question and private care is usually preferred anyway, particularly by foreigners who are not accustomed to developing country healthcare.
To find out more about the increasing costs of healthcare in Malaysia, visit this link:
Contact Malaysia Health Insurance
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