Perhaps with disruption and competition from social health insurance which caps payouts to private healthcare providers at more reasonable and transparent levels, can the escalating healthcare costs be finally brought under control.
More than a third of the population in Sarawak and Sabah continue to live beyond 5km of any kind of health facility and have to travel for hours to seek treatment.
Decision will motivate and help support doctors and dentists, particularly those just starting their own private practice, to provide better value, professionalism and higher quality of care.
It is wrong to imply that our healthcare system is too fragile and cannot survive without depending on one single company such as Pharmaniaga taking such a dominating role.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach or quick fix to achieving an optimal balance between paying the costs of providing high quality healthcare and ensuring equitable, accessible and affordable treatment for all.
We need to better understand the origins of poor mental health in Malaysia which will include social, economic, workplace, and environmental stressors; and social determinants to health such as poor health literacy and poverty.