HIGHER medical consultation fees will enable private doctors to stop relying on drug sales and splitting fees with third parties for income, said the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).

MMA president Dr Mohamed Namazie Ibrahim said the fee increase of RM35 and RM125, from the RM10 to RM35 now, would be the first fees revision in 12 years.

“This harmonisation of fees must be done for the GP (general practitioner) clinics to survive. The GPs need to be paid adequate consultation fees so that they do not have to depend on selling medicines to sustain their clinic,” he told The Malaysian Insight, following news the government was revising the private doctor’s fees.

There are 6,978 private GPs in Malaysia. 

Fee-splitting with third-party administrators (TPAs) has long been a problem for GPs. TPAs are firms such as insurance companies that take a cut from bill payments, which is against the law, Dr Namazie said.

The practice has caused losses of up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit for GPs, he said. 

“The health director-general has issued warnings but they are ignored.”

In 2015, the Muslim Doctors Association (Perdim) revealed that some GPs had to close their clinics because of TPAs, Dr Namazie said. 

“This is another issue that has to be raised with the Health Ministry. It is illegal for TPAs to take a cut.

Talks to review the consultation fees of private GPs and medical specialists started in 2013 and wrapped up mid-last year, but the previous government did not proceed to gazette the increments.

“Apparently, there was no political will on the part of previous minister to present (the proposed increments) to the cabinet. 

“The ministry officials were also not forthcoming with the reasons for not acting on what most of the stakeholders had agreed upon.”

He said because the TPA’s cut ate into their income, some GPs had to charge higher rates which they were not allowed to do as professional fees were regulated by law. 

Recently, deputy health director-general Dr Azman Abu Bakar said the fee increase had yet to be presented to the cabinet.

The Health Ministry held a townhall meeting last month where the majority of stakeholders attending agreed to the increase.

Dr Namazie said the MMA felt the fees revision was urgently needed and should be gazetted immediately.

“It has to be done now, seeing how some GPs are unable to survive.”

The new fees would still be lower compared to those charged by private GP clinics in countries like Vietnam (RM80), Indonesia (RM100) and Singapore (RM120).

The medical tourism business would not be affected, he added, because most overseas patients went to the hospital and not GP clinics for treatment.

Specialists’ fees, meanwhile, were revised in 2013. –  September 15, 2018.