The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) said it was told in a meeting with the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) last week that a fixed RCC rate contravenes Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010.

FPMPAM president Dr G Shanmuganathan said MyCC had advised private clinics to individually determine their rates based on the costs of providing their services, including compliance costs.

“In light of this, FPMPAM strongly advises all private practitioners to independently determine charges that reflect their actual operational costs,” he said in a statement.

On Nov 18, it was reported that the association advised its members to add a RM20 RCC to patients’ bills to cover the cost of complying with new government rules requiring clinics to display service prices.

It said the RCC is necessary to deal with rising expenses caused by the “over-regulation” of private healthcare.

FPMPAM said the proposed RM20 addition will help clinics cover compliance costs such as medical indemnity, waste disposal fees and compliance with data protection laws.

This comes after health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the government would require the prices of medication to be displayed at all private healthcare facilities from next year to boost transparency.

On Nov 19, deputy health minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni was reported as saying that general practitioner clinics may impose the RCC but must ensure that their fees are not too high.

He said private clinics are allowed to charge the RCC under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1988 (Act 586), but these fees must be appropriate.