KUALA LUMPUR: An industry study on a sample of over 30,000 hospital bills found that visits using guarantee letters (GL) were charged up to four times more than for 'pay-and-claim' between 2021 and 2023.
According to a source, visits using GL for dengue treatment were four times higher than 'pay-and-claim' bills of RM1,300.
Hospital visits for pneumonia treatment using GLs were three times higher than the RM2,600 bill for 'pay-and-claim'.
The frequency of claims also increased from 6.8 claims per 100 policyholders, to 8.6 claims per 100 policyholders during the 2021 and 2023 period .
The study found that hospital supplies and services charges made up 59-70 per cent of total medical bills.
Medical claims inflation is a perennial problem for Malaysia.
The cost of healthcare in Malaysia has grown significantly over the years, with medical cost inflation reaching 15 per cent in 2024 – well above the global average of 10 per cent and the Asia-Pacific average of 11 per cent.
As early as 2019, the central bank has flagged the rise in medical inflation claims and its impact on the consumers.
Between 2016 and 2019, medical and health insurance and takaful claims grew by 11.6 per cent a year.
"As a start, there is a need to provide greater public transparency of the various costs of medical procedures."
"This can be achieved through the publication of reference benchmark costs for common medical procedures. This will enable patients – particularly those who are self-paying – to make well-informed decisions on their desired level of healthcare service and its associated costs," BNM said in its box article on "Managing Medical Claims Inflation" in its 2019 annual report.
Earlier today, BNM announced interim measures to manage the spike in medical insurance premiums.
It said insurers and takaful operators will spread the increase over a minimum of three year period to keep it under 10 per cent until 2026.
The elderly, above 60 years of age, will also be provided a one year pause in premium changes.
A RM60 million fund will also be set up to help push along healthcare reforms for a sustainable solution to the problem.