Health DG details roles of private hospital, still waiting on insurance firms

 

COVID-19 | Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today revealed details on part of the plan to rope in private hospitals in the fight against Covid-19.

However, he said it was not yet a full roll out as the insurance firms are still negotiating their role.

For now, Noor Hisham said public hospitals will continue to refer certain non-Covid-19 cases to private hospitals as more than half of the RM55 million budget for this is still available.

"There are 210 private hospitals, and we have identified those with the medical expertise (to handle Covid-19 cases). If they do not have the experts, we won't rope them in.

"From this number, 130 hospitals have been identified to have the capability to handle Covid-19 treatment for Category 3, 4 and 5 patients. As of today, 95 of them have agreed to start treating Covid-19 patients.

"These 95 hospitals are offering 1,286 beds in total, plus 65 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, with 54 ventilators," he said at a virtual briefing today. 

According to Noor Hisham, discussions held by the Health Ministry also involved associations for insurance companies.

However, the companies have yet to make a decision on whether they would foot the bill for Covid-19 patients going to be treated at private facilities.

For the record, most if not all insurance companies have excluded a pandemic in their coverage policies.

"During the three meetings, Bank Negara was also there. But we do not want to wait for insurance companies. It is still under negotiation, as they need to do an evaluation.

"We will deal with the low hanging fruits first. So the Health Ministry will continue to send non-Covid-19 patients to private hospitals, which have already been done since the second wave of the pandemic. 

"The Finance Ministry allocated RM55 million for this last year, and we have only utilised 42 percent of it so far," he added.

Private hospitals are also required to treat Covid-19 patients they diagnose instead of referring them to public hospitals.

However, with insurance companies still in negotiation, how the cost for this category of patients will be paid is still unclear.

At the moment, a Health Ministry official said if a private hospital patient is diagnosed with Covid-19 but cannot afford the bill, they can negotiate for treatment at a public hospital.

This was as some patients rely on their medical insurance to seek treatment at private facilities.

Furthermore, Noor Hisham said that two semi-government hospitals have been assigned to treat Covid-19 cases among VIPs such as diplomats. However, those who can afford to pay will be sent to private hospitals. - Mkini