MEETING WITH PAS LEADERS ON MALAYSIAN HEALTHCARE REFORMS

I spend Sunday night at the KL PAS HQ, briefing PAS leaders on the Proposed 1 Care, that earlier seemed aborted and now seemed revived under 1 Care without the controversial elements. I was part of a 4 member team led by MPCAM president Dr Jim Loi. MPCAM was approached by PAS to brief them on 1Care, and they asked me to come along, as I had some details. PAS leaders were keen to know what this 1 Care was all about.
I gave a 30 mins presentation on what I knew, basing mainly on the now, largely denied, but still relied on 1Care Concept paper. we discussed about the setting out of the National Health Financing Authority and also the National Health Financing mechanism. We spend some minutes discussing the 4 phases of implementation, highlighting that according to Deputy DG MOH, we are now in the 4th phase of implementation. ( according to the 1Care Concept paper, the 4th phase is : Full Implementation of 1Care with the setting up of the Social Health Insurance ). The setting up of the Social Health Insurance will involve raising taxes to fund the 1Care.
The PAS VP, who was present, reminded us that today ( 8th Nov ) was the Parliamentary debate on the MOH budget, and they wanted to understand healthcare expenditure. In fact, they invited MPCAM to a press conference this morning in Parliament House, and invited MPCAM to present a memorandum on their healthcare concerns. The MPCAM had prepared a memorandum and I understand that it shall be distributed to MPs today, at Parliament House. This must be the first time that doctors are doing so.

I must say that throughout the dialog ( lets call it a dialog ), the PAS leaders were accommodating and cordial. They appeared to be well organised. There was even a research officer present to clarify what we said. Amongst the leaders, there were a few doctors, who seem to understand the medical doctors' problems. They are well organised. I was quite impressed.
When I was young, I never dreamt of a day when I would sit amongst PAS leaders to discuss issues and have a dialog. How times have changed.