Yoursay: With political will, free healthcare is possible

YOURSAY | 'Learn from Scandinavian countries - they are small, yet can provide free healthcare.'

Doctors want to fix our healthcare system – here's their prescription

Quigonbond: Government hospitals are overburdened. The rich-poor divide enables the rich to have better and faster access to diagnosis and treatment, and therefore longer lives.

If you really want to fix the system, first is to have a corruption-free society. Next is to ensure meritocracy in government hospitals, increase funding, increase pay, et cetera, so that government hospitals become choice hospitals for the people.

No choice but to increase tax, but the tax must go to a dedicated healthcare fund. There should be minimal thresholds of waiting time for diagnosis or treatment, or otherwise it is effectively a death sentence for people with chronic/serious conditions.

Finally, you have to separate citizens from foreign labour or other people who are likely to abuse the system.

Our insurance system needs an overhaul to allow take-up for pre-existing conditions like Obamacare. 

Our insurance policy coverage should also be improved, not only to cater for the typical mum-dad-children scenario, but child-parent scenario because more and more people are single these days, and typical group insurance doesn't cover this. It is discriminatory to single people.

Then, there should be incentives to research and develop generic drugs and develop our own pharmaceutical industry. We need to keep costs low to benefit Malaysians.

Malaysia has a unique culture of reliance on traditional medicine. It's high time traditional cures are researched and patented.

Clever Voter: Public awareness activities in healthcare are plentiful. Almost every other day we have campaigns – they don't come cheap.

While there is no disagreement on a healthy lifestyle, not many listen to advice. Malaysians are getting fat, and their eating habits are awful.

If the government is serious, enforce rules, cut down corruption in procurement, enforce unpopular taxes on unhealthy food. All these won't be welcomed, but it will help people live longer.

Those who can afford it don't bargain on medical care or education. The bottom 40 percent have to pray they don't catch terminal diseases.

Anonymous_1527654283: My friend has Stage Three cancer. She is paying RM11,0000 for a single chemotherapy injection. She has already paid RM80,000, and it's going on. 

Now she has a credit card debt... and doesn't know if she will live. The medical profession is milking these people dry. Ridiculous.

BA Baracus: Healthcare should be free for all. To fund it, have a healthcare tax to which every employer should also contribute. If a company sets up an in-house clinic, they should get a refund from the government. Many companies already buy insurance for their employees.

Learn from the Scandinavian countries – they are small countries, yet can provide free healthcare. It's possible with political will. Some NGOs should organise a campaign for free healthcare.

Solo: Everyone will need to use healthcare services throughout their lives, and especially at the end. You can pay for it by spending monthly on health insurance and taxes, or save your money till the end when the bill can reach RM50,000 or more, depending on the illness.

Worldwide, the best and most efficient national healthcare systems are the ones you invest in regularly from payroll deduction. You pay a regular amount for 30-plus years with the guarantee that it is available when you need it in your golden age.

Anonymous 19811504508400: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) should have a health insurance scheme, in addition to the present accident and permanent disability insurance scheme.

Rational: The main hurdle is the “free enterprise” of healthcare. They call it the medical healthcare industry.

Jonah 2: Privatise the system. How much of the GDP do you want to sapu for the healthcare system? 20 percent? 50 percent? Are these doctors mad?

The people don't care about their health. They overeat, drink sugar drinks, smoke, causing taxpayers to foot the bill. Which government can tahan? We are going to end up like the British National Health Service, with everybody paying 40 percent of their salaries to taxes.

DontConUsLa: There is more to this issue than just the income of health professionals. 

There is no obligation for society to guarantee a high income of health professionals. 

They enjoy a higher starting salary in the civil service, but choose to quit and work in the private sector because they want more. And when the more is not what they wish for, they ask the patients to pay more.

Why does the Health Ministry not legislate that hospitals, doctors and pharmacists list/itemise, with the description of services and medicines, on every bill?

The MMA coming up with a plan for healthcare is like asking the wolf to look after the chicken coop! They only see things from the doctor's perspective, and how to retain their control of healthcare and their income.

Anonymous 2456541485523213: Firstly, doctors' notes on diagnosis should be very precise and enable any doctor to understand them without any ambiguity.

Secondly, a copy of the notes should be made available to the patient. This will assist the patient if he decides to consult another doctor.

Thirdly, all medication should be labelled with expiry dates. This will bring about some degree of professionalism and competence.

Malaysia Must Change For Better: Healthcare at the University Hospital (UH) is deplorable.

Firstly, I don't understand why there is endless renovation going on in UH. The frontage of UH has massive construction. This must be costing a bomb. Is this really necessary?

The lifts in the main car park are in a deplorable condition. Much of the time only one lift is working and makes a creaking sound.

Most of the washrooms in UH are in deplorable condition and stinking. The cleaners are nowhere to be seen.

The car park is the most expensive compared to the other public hospitals. Even the National Heart Institute (IJN) gives a discount to patients and is very much cheaper than UH. Every day I have to fork out around RM12 as I have a regular follow-up appointment.

It should not be payable exclusively via Touch & Go because motorists get caught because their cards do not have sufficient funds, thus causing a jam while the motorists go to top up their cards.

The food stalls are rented out at a high price, thus the food is expensive.

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