Azrul Khalib, CEO of Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, said the RM100 million allocated might not be enough, and should be doubled.
He said the scheme could potentially be a game changer in reducing congestion at health clinics and hospitals, but had an “ambitious coverage target”.
The Madani scheme allows those in the B40 lower-income group to seek treatment at private clinics, at government-subsided rates. The government says the scheme will be expanded across the country.
The 2024 budget announced today also includes an allocation of RM200 million for patients in public hospitals to be treated at military, university and private hospitals.
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz hoped that non-communicable disease management could be included in the Madani medical scheme as it would encourage the participation of more private doctors.
Azizan also hoped for more information on the government’s plan to set up a cancer institute in Sarawak and a list of the 400 rundown clinics with outdated wiring that needed repairing.
Although Azrul was glad to see the increase in excise duty rate for sugar-sweetened beverages from 40 sen to 50 sen per litre, he said the revenue should instead be put into investing in health communications, preventive health intervention, and healthy breakfast programmes for students.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in his budget speech that the revenue would be used to fund the establishment of dialysis centres and treatment.
Azrul also said the government needed to address the problem of recruiting and retaining skilled healthcare workers, especially since Anwar had acknowledged that Malaysia fell short of meeting the one doctor for every 400 patients ratio.
“The government must demonstrate commitment to recruit new personnel and fund the promotion of existing staff and increase salaries to support retention of skilled healthcare workers. This was not made clear,” he said.
Former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said more has to be done to help the digitalisation of health records and services in rural areas.
He said the RM150 million allocated to maintain the information technology systems at the health ministry and provide 100 clinics with a clinic management system subscription would not be enough.
“The health ministry should do more detailed planning on this. Get the finance minister to commit a certain amount for electronic health records over a three-to-five-year timeframe.
“They will probably need at least RM500 million each year to roll out the system in all public hospitals and clinics,” he said.
Association of Private Hospitals president Dr Kuljit Singh said private medical workers are ready to assist the government in alleviating congestion in public hospitals.
However, patients at public hospitals can be quickly treated in private hospitals only after the public healthcare capacity is exhausted,” Kuljit said. “At this point, sharing resources between public and private will be the right way.”