Petaling Jaya: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has urged the government to regulate third party administrators (TPAs).
MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said in a statement that one of the issues was the fee-sharing practice, whereby TPAs take a percentage from the total amount charged to patients.
Azizan said these third parties would deduct 10-15 percent of total bills, which could force general practitioners (GPs) to cut costs and adjust prices to make up for their losses, affecting the sustainability of private clinics and the quality of care.
“We would like to remind all private doctors that fee splitting is an unethical practice as per the guidelines set by the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC).”
“If these unethical practices in our health system are allowed to continue, they will lead to further increases in healthcare costs, especially in private primary care services,” she said.
She added that the TPA charges private GP clinics high registration fees to register as panel clinics, has a habit of delaying payments or rejecting claims, and has a non-standardised registration and verification process.
She explained that the MMA has been in discussions with the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the matter since 2015, but no regulatory measures have been taken to address the issue.
She suggested setting up an authoritative body to regulate TPAs and enforce ethical practices to protect patients and private doctors.
See also: MMA argues that third-party administrators should be regulated in advance
