The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will begin closed-door proceedings next week to examine the rising costs of private hospital fees and insurance premiums, as well as their impact on the public healthcare system.

A total of ten sessions have been scheduled, during which various industry stakeholders will be summoned by the parliamentary watchdog. These include representatives from the health insurance sector, private hospitals, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), non-governmental organisations, and academics.

Bayan Baru MP, Sim Tze Tzin, stated that the proceedings are expected to be a lengthy process. The committee also aims to conclude its inquiry within three months and present its findings to Parliament during the June sitting.

Sim, who is one of the fourteen members of the bipartisan PAC, made these remarks during a press conference following the committee’s public hearing on insurance premiums and hospital charges at the Parliament building on Friday.

The rising costs of private hospital care in Malaysia have come under scrutiny after insurers and takaful operators announced plans to increase policy premiums by between 40% and 70% in 2025. However, the plan was subsequently scrapped following BNM’s intervention and the introduction of interim measures in response to public outcry.

Among these measures are provisions to spread out premium increases over a minimum of three years and to suspend certain premium adjustments for individuals aged 60 and above.

In 2023, Malaysia experienced a sharp increase in medical costs, with a recorded medical inflation rate of 12.6%. This figure was more than twice the global average of 5.6%.

Previously, BNM issued a directive in response to growing public concern over the affordability of Medical and Health Insurance and Takaful (MHIT) products. The central bank has instructed insurers and takaful operators to adopt more reasonable repricing strategies, including phased premium increases that take affordability into account.

(Source: The Edge)

• TAGS:
• Healthcare
• Insurance
• Insurance Premiums
• PAC
• private hospital fees
• Public Accounts Committee
• Sim Tze Tzin