KUALA LUMPUR, August 8 — The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) has endorsed the government’s move to mandate doctors’ prescriptions and itemised billing in private health care facilities.
The consumers’ group said mandatory prescriptions and itemised bills by private medical clinics – which list consultation fees, drug names and prices, procedures, and materials – would empower patients to compare prices or seek more affordable outlets.
“It dismantles the information asymmetry that has long allowed profiteering under the guise of medical convenience,” said Fomca CEO Saravanan Thambirajah in a statement today.
“Studies show that if drug price caps were introduced, patients could realize savings of 40 to 50 per cent on medicine costs—again demonstrating how much hidden room there is for fairer pricing.”
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh told the Dewan Rakyat Wednesday that the National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) has “mandated” doctors’ prescriptions and itemised billing in private medical clinics, besides mandatory drug price display that came into effect under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 (Act 723) on May 1.
More than 48 hours later, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad has yet to issue a statement, despite calls from multiple doctors’ associations for clarification on the legal authority for these new “mandates”.
Fomca claimed that patients insured by their employers saw consultation fees jump by 113.9 per cent between 2016 and 2019, while medicine costs and volumes dropped, “suggesting practitioners were shifting profit strategies in opaque ways.”
The consumers’ group did not provide evidence for its claim. Private general practitioners’ (GP) consultation fees have stagnated at RM10 to RM35 under Schedule 7 of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 (Act 586) for more than three decades.
Fomca also alleged that generic drug markups in some clinics exceeded 100 per cent.
“On a macroeconomic scale, Malaysia’s medical cost inflation has surged to 12.6 per cent in 2023, double the global average of 5.6 percent, significantly driven by unchecked private-sector charges,” said Saravanan.
“Bank Negara has emphasised that enhanced pricing transparency, including public drug and procedure prices and itemised billing, is pivotal in curbing this escalation and shielding consumers.”
Over the past several months, public discussions on medical inflation have primarily revolved around complaints about large private hospital bills (which are already itemised under the law) and health insurance premium spikes, not the cost of a GP visit.
“Nothing about this reform undermines clinical practice,” said Fomca, referring to mandatory prescriptions and itemised billing for private clinics.
“It simply ensures that health care remains patient-focused and ethically delivered. Internationally, this is not revolutionary. Nations such as Australia publish complete drug pricing details in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, from markups to patient charges; Canada, France, and Germany demand transparency in drug submissions, pricing rationale, and therapeutic benefit.
“Patients in these systems can truly make informed choices. Malaysia ought to do no less.
“In short, this mandate safeguards consumers’ rights, acknowledges health care as a public trust, rather than a retail transaction, and aligns Malaysia with global values of transparency, fairness, and accountability.”
