Private hospitals call for insurance cover of Covid-19 costs

 

Insurance companies have been urged to cover the cost of Covid-19 treatment in private hospitals. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA: Private hospitals, gearing up for taking in Covid-19 patients, have urged insurance companies to revise their policies and cover the cost of treatment for Covid-19 patients.

Most insurance companies do not provide cover for pandemics, said Dr Kuljit Singh, president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia.

However, the companies should pitch in, as “everyone is doing their part – the government, the private hospitals… insurance companies should step in too. They should cover the treatment of their clients during such extraordinary times,” he told FMT.

The government has said that the private healthcare system might be roped in for the fight against Covid-19 as a recent surge of infections has left government facilities at breaking point.

New laws under the state of emergency allow the government to direct private hospitals to take in Covid-19 cases, on pain of fines of up to RM5 million or even jail sentences if they refuse.

Kuljit Singh, president of the private hospitals’ association.

Kuljit said private hospitals had no qualms about taking in Covid-19 patients to help reduce the burden on government hospitals.

However, they could not treat Covid-19 patients for free. “If we were to absorb the cost, we could close down and we cannot afford to close,” he said.

He dismissed the commonly-held notion that private hospitals were raking in money. He said the high cost of operations and upkeep of facilities in private hospitals meant that patients would be billed for almost everything, including the protective equipment.

“Which is why we need to convince insurance companies to help out,” he said.

Although insurance companies might incur losses in covering many of their clients in the current surge of Covid-19 cases, “we are all in the same situation”.

Last night, Kuljit said the private hospitals were having discussions with the health minister and finance ministry about the rate of fees to be charged for treating Covid-19 patients transferred to private hospitals from government facilities. - FMT