KUALA LUMPUR: The government will make it mandatory for private healthcare facilities to display medication prices to enhance transparency.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said this initiative would be implemented under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.
"The fees in private hospitals, which include charges for nursing services, medical equipment, consumables (such as needles, syringes, gauze, etc.), laboratory tests, and medications, are not currently regulated by the Health Ministry.
"However, starting in 2025, the ministry will require the display of medication prices in private healthcare facilities to enhance price transparency.
"This initiative will be implemented under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011," he said in his winding-up speech at the Dewan Rakyat.
He added that through such measure, medication charges in insurance claims can be reviewed to ensure that prices do not exceed those displayed, preventing arbitrary price increases for medications.
He clarified that the government only regulates professional fees in the private sector, which are governed by the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 Schedule Thirteen, Private Healthcare Facilities and Services (Other) Order (Amendment 2013), which has been in effect since 2006.
According to a 2023 report from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysia recorded medical inflation at 12.6 per cent, significantly higher than the global average of 5.6 per cent.
In August, chief executive of the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) expressed bewilderment after being charged RM18,837.55 for a minor hernia operation at a Kuala Lumpur private hospital.
Mark O'Dell, who has led AIA and Manulife in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Taiwan, was taken aback by the 13-page bill for a procedure performed in May.
With 44 years in the life insurance industry, O'Dell questioned how a single night in the hospital could generate such an extensive invoice.