KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry wants to know why the National Heart Institute (IJN) plans to hike fees for patients referred to the private centre by the ministry, says Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni.

The Deputy Health Minister said the increased fees charged by IJN fee impact the ministry’s bottom line.

Lukanisman said the proposed hike was put forth by IJN to the Finance Ministry, which has purview over the renowned heart surgery centre.

"We will hold talks with the Finance Ministry and IJN to find out in detail the reasons behind the proposed fee hike," he told reporters at a press conference in Parliament on Monday. (Oct 14).

It was recently reported that IJN intended to increase fees between 10% and 40% for patients referred by the Health Ministry.

It was reported that the proposed fee hike was due to inflationary pressure and rising operational costs which impacted the hospital's current fee structure which had been in place since 2003.

Newly minted IJN's chief executive officer Prof Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib was quoted in a recent report that the proposed fee review would be based on procedures performed by the hospital.

He cited an example where a bypass surgery in private hospitals could range between RM110,000 and RM120,000 compared to between RM40,000 and RM50,000 charged by IJN for the same procedure.

Meanwhile, Lukanisman said that the Health Ministry held no influence in deciding the fee structure for IJN.

"We cannot influence the fees as IJN is not under us," he said.

He acknowledged that any hike in IJN's fees would have an impact on the ministry which is a client of the hospital.

In July this year, Dewan Negara was told that the Health Ministry (MOH) spent RM248.97mil to outsource 93,495 heart patients to IJN between January and May this year.

Tags: IJN, Health Ministry, Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Finance Ministry, Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/10/14/explain-the-fee-hike-health-ministry-asks-ijn