KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — Dzulkefly Ahmad yesterday revealed that government-linked investment companies (GLICs) will be investing into the RakanKKM programme to expand private wings in government hospitals.
The health minister described RakanKKM as a “cross-subsidising investment programme”, indicating that some of the revenue generated from these “private wings” will be poured back into the overall public health service.
“RakanKKM is a WIN-WIN-WIN of a “Whole-of-Nation PARTNERSHIP” of patients, our specialists and HCWs (health care workers), GLICs and MOH, in an effort to be transforming a willingness to pay for personal and private benefit and access to a quality affordable care,” Dzulkefly posted on X late last night.
“Revenues generated shall be harnessed into a cross-subsidising investment programme which benefits all in public health services, while retaining specialists, public doctors-nurses in MOH.”
The health minister added that RakanKKM will be announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the finance minister, in the upcoming tabling of Budget 2025 next month.
Dzulkefly had quoted a video posted by CodeBlue on X of his recent remarks at the World Cancer Congress (WCC) 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland, about his plans to expand private wings, or the full-paying patient (FPP) service, in MOH hospitals as part of health care financing reform.
At the WCC, Dzulkefly said a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) would be set up for the expansion of private wings, targeting the middle class or M40 group, to raise revenue and to help retain specialist doctors in the public health service.
Currently, FPP services are available in 10 MOH hospitals, offering patients an option to choose their specialist doctors, access to first class or executive wards, and services at more competitive rates than private hospitals. However, these services are limited by the availability of resources, expertise, and facilities.
Former Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah wrote in 2019 that the government collected RM22 million in revenue in 2018 from the FPP service in 10 MOH hospitals. RM22 million is just a fraction (0.05 per cent) of MOH’s RM41.2 billion budget for this year.
The top six GLICs in Malaysia are the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan (KWAP), Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT), Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), and Khazanah Nasional Bhd.
IHH Healthcare Bhd – which operates a network of private hospitals, including Gleneagles, Pantai, and Prince Court, among others – counts KWAP, TH, and PNB – among its top 30 shareholders.
IHH recorded a net profit of RM623 million for the second quarter this year, more than double from a year earlier.
Another private hospital operator, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, counts the EPF Board and KWAP as among its substantial shareholders.
KPJ Healthcare Berhad recently announced its best ever quarterly results in the Group’s history, recording its highest ever revenue of RM930.6 million for the second quarter ended June 30, marking an 18 per cent increase from RM785.4 million in Q2 FY2023.
Support for the expansion of private wings in MOH hospitals has been mixed. A few health care professionals questioned if there was indeed “excess capacity” in diagnostic equipment or staff that could be used by RakanKKM, or if the private wings would be competing with their public counterpart for the same pool of resources.
Former Health deputy director-general Dr Christopher Lee and DAP’s Bukit Gasing state assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran have expressed support for RakanKKM’s aim to retain specialists in the public service.
Many other Malaysians, however, including leaders from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), have slammed the proposed “privatisation” of MOH.
“Why do we need a private wing in a public hospital? Because it doesn’t make sense at all. Not only that, instead of pushing MOF (Ministry of Finance) to increase funds for our public health care system and health care amenities, we are doing this. Like what the heck? Who’s benefiting from this?” one said.
