Covid 19 How Will Govt Spend Rm100m For Private Hospital Integration Asks Pkr

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Putrajaya has been urged to be transparent on the details of its negotiations in regard to the RM100 million allocation for the integration of private hospitals into the government's Covid-19 response.
PKR treasurer-general Lee Chean Chung said there were concerns that the funds would not be used wisely.
"I am worried that if the negotiation process is not made transparent, open, and with proper planning, the shortage of beds and equipment will be ill-addressed, and the funds will be milked by selected sectors within a short period of time," he said in a statement today.
The RM100 million allocation was announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Jan 18.
However, as of Jan 23, no details have surfaced as to how the funds would be used.
The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia had said that the funds would be insufficient for Covid-19 integration, but was "a good start".
Lee also questioned whether there would be "discriminative treatment" when public and private hospitals are combined.
"Who decides how to admit the patients, government or private hospital? Can private hospitals prioritise the affluent class or those with medical cards if they’re allowed to use them?
"Nobody wants to be infected by Covid-19, but the combination of the dual-system might increase the risk of discriminative treatment, which leads to social injustice," he said.
Besides the lack of clarity on how government funds will be used, there was also the issue of insurance coverage.


Private hospitals previously proposed that insurance companies cover Covid-19 patients who have medical cards.
However, insurance policies generally do not cover pandemic-related risks. Insurance companies argue that there are too many risks involved to fully insure Covid-19 treatment.
Lee said instead of arguing who should foot the bill, the government should focus on expanding centralised isolation facilities such as the quarantine and low risk treatment centre in Serdang.
"Additionally, the authority should put its concerted efforts on prevention: enhance contact tracing, isolation/quarantine and screening capabilities, which obviously has saturated or deteriorated in past weeks.
"Allocating RM100 million to the private sector to tackle Covid-19 might sound sexy, but the unintended consequences can be far-reaching," he added. - Mkini

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