KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 – MP for Kuala Langat, Dr. Ahmad Yunus Hairi, supports the introduction of a National Health Insurance Scheme as a supplementary means of financing health care.
The opposition MP, who heads the health portfolio of Perikatan Nasional (PN), said the current funding structure is inadequate to meet the country’s health care needs.
“I think it is time for a national health insurance scheme to be introduced,” said Dr Ahmad Yunus. code blue in an interview in Parliament on March 28. “We cannot rely on tax revenues alone to run our country’s health services; It is not enough.”
Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa previously told Dewan Rakyat that the health white paper, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament in June, should include a recommendation for the implementation of a national health care programme. Health Insurance.
The Galen Center for Health and Social Policy estimates that a wage-financed social health insurance scheme – with contribution rates similar to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) at 11% for employees and 13% for employers – could generate RM31.1 billion in funding for health expenditure.
This would be in addition to federal budget allocations that the Department of Health (MOH) receives.
“Generally, I am very much in favor of a national health insurance program. In terms of contribution percentages, if they are to be the same as the EPF rates, I think this needs to be studied thoroughly to ensure that it does not burden both the worker and the employer,” said Dr. Ahmad Yunus.
MP PAS believes that the Government should continue to provide assistance such as grants or the Madani Medical Scheme to support people in the B40 income group who may not have the financial means to pay for health care. health.
“I think for people in the M40 and T20 groups, a national health insurance scheme should be applicable. I think it’s time for national health insurance.
Last September, code blueThe survey of 529 respondents found that 72% were in favor of compulsory social health insurance financed by payroll deductions.
The survey also showed that 92% agreed that the annual public health care budget should be doubled to RM70 billion, or 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Nearly half (46.3%) of respondents also favored reinstating the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to increase the public health budget, while 88% want the Department of Prime’s allocation Minister be reduced and diverted to the Ministry of Health.
Dr. Ahmad Yunus, a doctor by training, added that revising the Ministry of Health’s outpatient and specialist care fees to RM1 and RM5, respectively, could also help increase funds for the public health system.
“I believe these RM1 fees have been in our healthcare system for a long time. We need to look into the possibility of increasing this fee to maybe RM5, for example, or RM10. Either way, we need to properly assess this issue before a decision is made,” said Dr Ahmad Yunus.
Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has previously described the RM1 and RM5 fees for outpatient and specialist care respectively at Ministry of Health health facilities as “unsustainable”.
Khairy told Parliament that the government’s collection of medical fees RM1 and RM5, as stipulated in the (Medical) Fees (Amendment) Order 1982 and the (Medical) Fees (Amendment) Order 2017, did not represent only one percent of the amount spent on public health care. .