Delay on GP fee review: 'Face realities on the ground,' NACCOL told

Focus Malaysia

06-06-2025

A DOCTORS' group has expressed disappointment over the government's failure to to revise private general practitioners' (GP) consultation fees as promised.
'We note with deep disappointment that the Health Minister's promise to finalise the long-overdue review of private GP consultation fees within a month has now passed without action,' said Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations, Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Shanmuganthan TV Ganeson.
'Private GPs have been self-funding the essential primary care system for decades. Yet we remain shackled by consultation fees that have not changed in 33 years, while regulations and compliance costs continue to rise.'
Recall that Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad told reporters on May 3 that the issue about GP consultation fees would be resolved 'within one month at the latest', adding that he had already prepared a Cabinet memorandum and circular.
During Dzulkefly's May 3 press conference, the Health Minister claimed that the National Action Committee on the Cost of Living (NACCOL) had already agreed to a review of GP consultation fees.
'The Malaysian Medical Association and other GP bodies have presented a clear, evidence-based case for a fee update that ensures the sustainability of primary care clinics and the quality of care for our patients,' Dr Shanmuganathan said.
'We understand that NACCOL has raised concerns about the impact of the fee update. We want to remind NACCOL that these concerns are misplaced.
'Patients who visit GPs choose to do so for immediate, quality care—often to avoid hospital queues and costly specialist visits. They are willing to pay a fair fee for this timely service.
'Past analyses by NACCOL itself showed no significant impact on the Consumer Price Index, even with proposed fee updates as far back as 2019.'
Moreover, Dr Shanmuganathan noted that third-party administrators have for too long suppressed GP consultation fees for corporate profit, while the Pharmaceutical Services Division, certain pharmacy groups, and even Pharma Corporations have lobbied to undermine the integrated GP clinic model that has served Malaysians well for over 60 years.
'The government must not hide behind a narrative that keeping GP fees artificially low somehow serves the public good,' he stressed.
'In reality, it threatens the survival of primary care—the most cost-effective part of our healthcare system—and shifts costs to patients in other ways.
'NACCOL must face these realities. It must not deny GPs the means to sustain their practices and continue serving communities effectively.
'We call on the Health Minister to honour his promise and on NACCOL to remove its obstacles and allow this long-overdue correction. Anything less is a disservice to GPs and the communities we care for daily.' ‒ June 6, 2025
Main image: The Straits Times