No change in dental charges, DG responds to viral 'circular'

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said there will be no changes in fees paid by Malaysians for outpatient dental procedures at government clinics.

This negates an alleged Health Ministry circular which stated that dental procedure charges would increase exponentially starting March 1.

"Outpatient charges as it is today will remain but (the receipt) will show the actual cost patients would have to pay (without subsidy)," he added.

For example, Noor Hisham said charges for filling would remain at RM2 and not RM55 as per the circular.

"(The fee will be) RM2 but (the receipt) will be RM55," he told Malaysiakini when asked to clarify his earlier statement on the matter.

Whereas tooth extraction costs RM1 while filling and scaling cost RM2 respectively at public clinics.

At present, Noor Hisham said Malaysians referred directly from the private sector are charged as if they are warded in Class 1 of public hospitals.

"We are reviewing this," he added.

In his earlier statement, the director-general said the new charges would apply to those who can afford Class 1 and Class 2 wards.

Noor Hisham told Malaysiakini he has since removed that portion of his statement to avoid confusion.

This comes after Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam assured that the poor would not be affected by hikes in ward charges.

Last November, Noor Hisham announced that ward charges for Class 1 and Class 2 wards in public hospitals would go up by 50 percent (from RM30 to RM45 per night) and 25 percent (from RM20 to RM25 per night) respectively.

He said Class 3 ward charges would remain at RM3 per night, while those who cannot afford it can apply to have the fees waived.- Mkini