
SST on private healthcare may drive up cost
Gleneagles Hospital Johor chief executive officer and regional chief executive officer of Southern and Eastern IHH Malaysia, Dr Kamal Amzan, said that while the government maintains the tax targets medical tourists and expatriates, its ripple effects may land much closer to home.
"Healthcare is not made up of standalone bills. It's an ecosystem held together by hundreds of interdependent services," Dr Kamal said.
"By taxing services like cleaning, linen supply, lab logistics and security, which are integral to hospital operations — you are essentially taxing the cost of care itself," he told the New Straits Times.
These costs are not peripheral. They form the architecture of safe, modern healthcare.
Yet under the current tax framework, many contracted support services are now subject to SST — a move that could compound financial pressures on hospitals already grappling with medical inflation, wage hikes and post-Covid service recovery.
"Hospitals facing slimmer margins may resort to fee increases, administrative charges, or cuts in services to stay afloat. This isn't reform — it's erosion," said Dr Kamal.
This policy arrives at a time when the cost of private healthcare in Malaysia has already outpaced wage growth, with a recorded 12 per cent increase last year alone. In many hospitals, margins are tightening even as expectations for quality and safety rise.
"We are taxing the scaffolding of care while pretending the house will still stand," he added.
Contrary to popular belief, private hospitals are not the exclusive domain of the wealthy. Middle-income families often rely on them to avoid long queues at public hospitals. Employers turn to private facilities to minimise workplace absenteeism. Many cancer patients move between public and private care as public oncology services buckle under rising demand.
"Private hospitals are the pressure valve for an overstretched public system. When access narrows in the private sector due to rising costs, patients will inevitably default to public hospitals — and they're already under immense strain," said Dr Kamal.
To avoid that outcome, Dr Kamal urges the government to exempt core hospital services — such as linen supply, lab transport, cleaning and security — from SST when provided to licensed healthcare facilities.
"These aren't luxuries. They're the minimum conditions for safe care," he said.
The argument isn't about shielding providers from taxes. It's about aligning policy with national goals. The government is trying to rein in medical inflation. Yet this tax expansion works in the opposite direction — quietly raising costs, eroding efficiency and ultimately, reducing access.
"We should be reducing the cost to deliver care, not layering it. Taxing the backbone of hospital operations while asking the industry to absorb payor discounts is a contradiction we can't afford."
While the government has maintained that medicines and services for Malaysians remain tax-free, stakeholders warn that this new layer of indirect cost will ultimately find its way into patient bills — especially for those on the margins of affordability.
"If we're serious about protecting the rakyat from rising healthcare costs, then exempting services that keep hospitals running isn't charity — it's common sense," said Dr Kamal.
Because no hospital can deliver modern care without its invisible hands — the ones who clean, sterilise, transport and guard its patients and staff.
"We've exempted apples from tax. Maybe that's fitting," Dr Kamal added wryly.
"After all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away — especially when seeing one gets more expensive," he added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Malaysia launches MYMT 2026 campaign to attract high-value health travellers
Dzulkefly (centre) launching Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre today. Second from left is Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Suriani Ahmad. – Bernamapic KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is doubling down on its ambition to become one of Asia's top medical tourism hubs, and banking on the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism 2026 (MYMT 2026) campaign to draw more high-value health travellers while ensuring affordability and inclusivity remain central to its strategy. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, who launched the campaign today at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre, said Malaysia's unique value proposition, world-class medical facilities, competitive costs and culturally attuned hospitality, positions it strongly against regional heavyweights Thailand and Singapore. 'When we do our peer comparison regionally, we still believe we are competitive. That is our fighting spirit,' Dzulkefly told reporters during a post-launch press conference. Addressing industry worries about the impact of the 6% Sales and Service Tax on healthcare packages, Dzulkefly acknowledged the concern but insisted Malaysia retains a pricing advantage compared to its neighbours. 'Whatever it is, it will leave an impression,' he said. 'But we still feel, even with the SST, Malaysia remains competitive in the region.' Malaysia attracted 1.6 million healthcare travellers in 2024, with the bulk coming from Indonesia, India and China. Dzulkefly said while Indonesia would remain the largest market, MYMT 2026 will aim to diversify catchment markets to reduce reliance on traditional sources and tap new segments in the Middle East and Europe. 'We will continue to grow, not just depending on the three countries mentioned earlier,' he said. 'There is a pull factor we can create for other markets.' Dzulkefly highlighted cardiothoracic surgery, in-vitro fertilisation and oncology as Malaysia's flagship specialties, while also pushing traditional and complementary medicine to differentiate Malaysia's offerings. 'This gives us very high added value alongside our state-of-the-art quality that is affordable and accessible,' he said. 'Trust and compassion are synonymous with our healthcare tourism.' The event also spotlighted the Flagship Medical Tourism Hospital Programme, naming four hospitals, National Heart Institute, Island Hospital Penang, Mahkota Medical Centre and Subang Jaya Medical Centre, as top contenders. The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), which is the organiser and lead agency behind the campaign, said these flagship institutions set benchmarks in clinical excellence, innovation and international patient services. The campaign aligns with MHTC's RM12 billion revenue target by 2030, building on a 21% jump in medical tourism revenue in 2024 to RM2.72 billion. Dzulkefly said Malaysia's role as chair of the Asean Health Ministers Meeting in 2026 will provide a platform to lead regional conversations on cross-border healthcare and equity. Separately, he confirmed that Pasir Gudang Hospital is expected to reach 50% operational readiness by year-end, with full opening targeted for early 2026, pending staffing and equipment readiness. He also welcomed the government's move to convert contract doctors to permanent service, saying it would boost morale and retention in the public healthcare system. 'This conversion is an incentive for them to stay with us. We will carry it out as soon as possible,' he said. Renowned singer Datuk Sri Siti Nurhaliza was appointed MYMT 2026's ambassador to help extend Malaysia's medical tourism message to a broader audience, especially in neighbouring Indonesia where she has strong fan appeal.


The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
WHO denies US claims of violating national sovereignty in pandemic rules
GENEVA: The World Health Organization has firmly denied US allegations that recent amendments to global health regulations infringe on national sovereignty. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified that the organization only provides guidance, leaving implementation entirely to member states. 'Our job is to provide evidence-based recommendations and guidelines, and to support countries to protect and improve the health of their populations,' Tedros stated. 'But how or whether countries implement that advice has always been and always will be up to them, based on their national guidelines and rules.' The amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), approved in 2024, introduced a 'pandemic emergency' alert level to enable faster global coordination. These changes followed criticism of delayed responses during the COVID-19 crisis. However, the US administration, led by President Donald Trump, rejected the revisions last week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy argued that the rules could undermine national decision-making. 'We will put Americans first in all our actions and we will not tolerate international policies that infringe on Americans' speech, privacy or personal liberties,' they said in a joint statement. Tedros emphasized that the amendments were developed and adopted by member states, not imposed by the WHO. 'WHO has no authority to tell countries what to do. We cannot impose travel bans, lockdowns, vaccine mandates or any other type of measure. Nor do we seek to,' he said. Steven Solomon, WHO's chief legal officer, confirmed that only a few countries opposed the changes before the July 19 deadline. 'It's now clear that the 2024 IHR amendments will apply to the overwhelming majority of the 196 countries that are party to the IHRs,' he said. - AFP

The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Global vaccination stalling, kids at risk of preventable diseases
Efforts to vaccinate children globally have stalled since 2010, leaving millions vulnerable to tetanus, polio, tuberculosis and other diseases that can be easily prevented. Protection from measles in particular dropped in 100 countries between 2010 and 2019, unravelling decades of progress, including in rich countries that had previously eliminated the highly infectious disease, according to a new analysis of global vaccination trends published Tuesday in the journal Lancet. "After clean water, vaccination is the most effective intervention for protecting the health of our children,' said Helen Bedford, a professor of children's health at University College London, who was not connected to the warned there has been a small but worrying rise in the number of parents skipping vaccination for their children in recent years, for reasons including misinformation. In Britain, Prof Bedford said that has resulted in the largest number of measles recorded since the 1990s and the deaths of nearly a dozen babies from whooping cough. Vaccination rates in the United States are also falling, and exemptions from vaccinations are at an all-time high. After the World Health Organisation (WHO) established its routine immunisation program in 1974, countries made significant efforts to protect children against preventable and sometimes fatal diseases; the program is credited with inoculating more than four billion children, saving the lives of 154 million worldwide. Since the programme began, the global coverage of children receiving three doses of the diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough vaccine nearly doubled, from 40% to 81%. The percentage of kids getting the measles vaccine also jumped from 37% to 83%, with similar increases for polio and after the Covid-19 pandemic, coverage rates dropped, with an estimated 15.6 million children missing out on the diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough vaccine and the measles 16 million children failed to get vaccinated against polio and nine million missed out on the TB vaccine, with the biggest impact in sub-Saharan study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. Protection from measles, which is preventable through vaccination, has dropped in 100 countries between 2010 and 2019. Photo: CARLOS SANCHEZ/Reuters Public protection In a pledge of support for Gavi, the British government announced recently it will give £1.25bil (RM7.26bil) between 2026 and 2030 to the international vaccine said the money will help Gavi protect up to 500 million children in some of the world's poorest countries from diseases including meningitis, cholera and measles, potentially saving eight million lives. Health advocates welcomed the money but some noted it is less than the £1.65bil Britain (RM9.58bil) pledged over the five years from 2020. Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who conducted the Lancet analysis, noted that more than half of the world's 15.7 million unvaccinated children live in just eight countries in 2023: Nigeria, India, Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia and Brazil. Since President Trump has begun to withdraw the US from the WHO and dismantled the US Agency for International Aid, public health experts have warned of new epidemics of infectious diseases. The researchers said it was too early to know what impact recent funding cuts might have on children's immunisation rates. The WHO said there had been an 11-fold spike in measles in the Americas this year compared to infections doubled in the European region in 2024 versus the previous year and the disease remains common in Africa and South-East Asia. "It is in everyone's interest that this situation is rectified,' said Dr David Elliman, a paediatrician who has advised the British government, in a statement. "While vaccine-preventable infectious diseases occur anywhere in the world, we are all at risk.' – AP