KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian private general practitioners (GPs) are calling for a substantial increase in consultation fees, citing operational challenges and rising medical inflation.
This takes place amid soaring healthcare costs and rising insurance premiums, with consumers voicing anxiety over the fee-hike call and citing concerns about affordability and accessibility.
The Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) is urging a hike in fees from the current range of RM10 to RM35 (S$3 to $10.50) to an RM50-RM150 range.
The group’s president, Dr Shanmuganathan T.V. Ganeson, said this would be merely a “long-overdue correction” rather than a sudden price spike.
Dr Shanmuganathan said on March 6 that the consultation fee structure has remained unchanged for 19 years since 2006 despite the rising costs of rent, utilities, staff salaries and medical supplies.
“Many small clinics are shutting down, forcing patients to seek more expensive hospital care,” he said.
There are around 8,000 GP clinics in the country, a drop from some 9,800 in 2022. FPMPAM represents over 5,000 members.
Dr Shanmuganathan suggested that the new fees take effect over three to five years, with periodic adjustments based on medical inflation.
His call followed a furore in December 2024 over a planned 40 per cent to 70 per cent hike in health insurance premiums by providers in 2025.
Following a public outcry, the government announced interim measures on Dec 20, 2024, such as having the premium increases spread out over three years, and imposing a 10 per cent annual cap on rises in premiums.
Then on Jan 1, University Malaya Medical Centre, one of Malaysia’s largest public hospitals that serves a large chunk of Klang Valley residents, raised its fees, with specialist consultation fees rising more than 200 per cent to RM50 and general clinic visits tripling to RM15.
Ms Suee Tiong, 45, a manager at an IT company, said a visit to the GP with her child who has the flu set her back RM80, after adding the cost of prescribed antibiotics and the RM25 consultation fee.
“With two school-going kids, the bug gets around. So it is almost a visit every month. One kid may need two visits if the medication prescribed in the first place doesn’t work, which adds an extra RM160 a month,” said Ms Tiong.
She said that should stronger antibiotics be prescribed, the medical bill could easily breach the RM100 mark.
“For middle-income families with children, it definitely has a big impact,” she said, adding that she saves on medical expenses for her own check-ups by going to public health clinics that charge RM1 per visit.
Malaysia’s Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad told Parliament on March 4 that his ministry was working with the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) to determine an appropriate range for private GP consultation fees.
DOSM’s chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin told The Straits Times that the department will be collecting and analysing prices to ensure accurate data for this process. According to FPMPAM, cumulative inflation since 2006 has been around 60 per cent to 70 per cent, making the existing RM10-RM35 range outdated.
It said in its statement that adjusting for inflation alone, the equivalent GP consultation fee today should be RM16 to RM60.
“However, medical cost inflation (which outpaces general inflation) suggests a fair fee of RM50 to RM150, aligning with actual operational costs,” FPMPAM said.
The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) highlighted in a statement on March 5 that the current fee structure has been in place since 1992.
MMA president Kalwinder Singh Khaira noted that despite repeated calls for adjustments, no increase has been made in the last 33 years, while the cost of running a clinic has risen exponentially.
“Many private clinics are struggling to stay afloat with the increasing costs of staff salaries, rentals, utilities and equipment,” Dr Kalwinder said.
MMA has also claimed that increasing regulatory demands, including a requirement to display drug prices, are putting unnecessary strain on GPs.
Dr Dzulkefly in November 2024 said the government would make it mandatory from 2025 for private healthcare facilities to display medication prices to prevent arbitrary price hikes.
Malaysia’s Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad says private healthcare facilities will now have to display medication prices.PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
Dr Kalwinder said in February that a 2017 MMA study found that 30 per cent of clinics operate at a loss, 30 per cent barely break even, 30 per cent survive but do not grow, and only 10 per cent are in good financial health.
With 60 per cent of GP clinics facing financial strain, any further regulatory burdens – without economic protections – will lead to the closure of more clinics, he argued.
Nevertheless, concerns also remain over the potential burden on patients.
Dr Lim Chee Han, senior researcher with non-profit research outfit Third World Network, warned that an increase to RM50 per consultation could force many patients to pivot to cheaper government clinics, exacerbating the strain on the overburdened public healthcare system.
“Most patients cannot afford consultation fees of RM50, which would exclude the cost of medication,” Dr Lim told ST.
“This will definitely push many to government clinics.”
There are 1,097 government clinics nationwide.
Dr Lim noted that many GP clinics are also marking up the prices of medications they dispense, often surpassing the costs charged by pharmacies.
“The government should adjust the scheduled fee range but not to the level demanded by MMA unless numbers show it is justified. At the same time, the medicine price display policy has to be first implemented, and later the medicine prices regulation mechanism has to come in, to control the mark-up of medical products,” Dr Lim added.
A GP who owns a private clinic in Bukit Damansara, charging between RM25 and RM30 for consultation, said he agreed that fees needed to rise, especially as the cost of operating a clinic in Kuala Lumpur has significantly increased.
“Our consultation fees have not risen on par with the inflation rate over the past 20 years,” he told ST.
“There should be good healthcare for all, but we GPs are, for better or worse, a business entity,” added the doctor, who declined to be named for fear of public backlash.
Hazlin Hassan is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times.
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