Galen CEO Azrul Khalib said adopting scheme rates similar to Social Security Organisation contributions (1.75% employer, 0.5% employee) would raise at least RM6 billion annually.

“It could provide a means to improve treatment and care options, expand human resource options, and be a critical resource during times of crisis.

“A portion of the funds collected could ensure that aged care is properly funded and sustained,” he said in a statement today.

Azrul also called for the complete removal of all sugar subsidies and the removal of sugar from the schedule of controlled items under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011.

Adding that sugar subsidies were meant to be abolished more than 10 years ago, he said they also wipe out revenue from the sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tax.

“RM500 million in annual sugar subsidies wipe out any current and potential revenue from the increase in SSB taxes which are around RM300 million. They also undermine the health ministry’s ‘war on sugar’.

“The direct consequence of cheap sugar is the continued and uncontrolled spread of diabetes in this country, causing other non-communicable diseases such as chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, which bring about premature death.

“It is costing billions in funds and thousands of lives each year,” he said.

Azrul also called for the removal of the RM1 and RM5 charges for outpatient and specialist care respectively at health ministry facilities, saying people should not need to pay at the point of care access.

“These charges also keep alive the fiction that the cost of healthcare in Malaysia is cheaper at government facilities, and mislead the public,” he said.