National Health Insurance scheme gets green light
Daily Express
(Independent National Newspaper of East Malaysia)
December 16, 2004
National Health Insurance scheme gets green light
After two years of study, the Government has agreed to implement the proposed National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) soon to reduce the healthcare burden on the Government and help ease the long waiting time in public healthcare facilities.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said it would be based on a community-rated model.
“This means it would be based on cost and risk-sharing across the population, with the rich subsidising the poor, the young for the elderly, the healthy for the sick and the employed for the unemployed,” he said.
“The mechanism will be affordable, viable and sustainable, provide Universal and comprehensive coverage and achieve greater equity and accessibility to quality health are for all Malaysians,” he added.
Chua said the present system would be retained and be improved with greater integration between the public and private sectors while the mechanism would help to ensure better access to healthcare, either in the public or private sector.
“To govern and run the national health financing mechanism, there is also a need to set up a National Health Financing Authority under the Ministry of Health and to be wholly owned by the Government,” he said.
The National Health Financing Authority would function as a single payer for the healthcare of all citizens and eligible non-citizens.
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=31399
Comment: So they’re proposing “a single payer for the healthcare of all citizens” through a National Health Financing Authority to be wholly owned by the government. Sounds like a good idea. Do you think that might work here?