KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): The government will establish a joint committee to tackle the country’s escalating healthcare costs and propose structural reforms, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.
The committee — comprising the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) — will work towards reforms aimed at improving price transparency, strengthening digital healthcare delivery, and expanding access through affordable, universal medical insurance.
“We are not just talking about minor adjustment — we must be prepared for a fundamental shift towards a value-based healthcare system,” Anwar said in his keynote address at the Sasana Symposium 2025 hosted by BNM.
Private healthcare costs have skyrocketed amid spikes in premiums for medical insurance. Insurers, meanwhile, blamed soaring medical inflation and claims for the increase in prices consumers have to pay to be protected, prompting the central bank to step in.
BNM, which also regulates insurers, has asked industry operators to spread out the increases over a minimum of three years for all policyholders affected by the repricing, among other interim measures.
A move by the government to standardise treatment costs faced strong opposition from private hospital operators who argued that a regulation on prices would impact healthcare quality.
Unchecked medical inflation risks making private healthcare increasingly inaccessible for many Malaysians, Anwar said. “Healthcare must remain a pillar of national resilience,” he stressed.
In his speech, Anwar said a shift towards a value-based healthcare model seeks to align health spending with outcomes, rather than volume of procedures, requiring reforms across procurement, financing, and service delivery.
“Why buy the most expensive hospital beds, if they are not even used to full capacity? We need rational procurement. Even the governor [of BNM] can use a normal bed,” he said, underscoring the need for cost control within the healthcare ecosystem.
Anwar also called for greater uptake of generic medicines in public hospitals to reduce dependency on costly branded imports, which have long inflated treatment costs.