OPT FOR GOVT HOSPITALS TO AVOID HEFTY MEDICAL CHARGES

"Government hospitals? Nah, I would avoid them like the plague. The service is terrible, the food is worse, and let's not even mention the doctors."

That may have been the case at one time. But I have been hearing plenty of good things about our government hospitals from my friends who had their operation done there. They were happy with the standard of nursing care, and above all, the low medical charges. They didn't have to break the bank to pay for their surgery and hospitalization.

Ward charges at government hospitals (from Hospital Kuala Lumpur website)

Ward charges per day at the private hospital in PJ where my mom stayed.

My mother spent ten days in a private hospital after her hip surgery last year. This was followed by three months of twice-weekly physiotherapy session at the same hospital. The total bill came close to an eye-bulging RM60,000. That's not including her expensive prescription drugs.

A friend later told me that her mother underwent a similar operation at a government hospital, and recovered quite well. It had cost less than RM10,000 in all. Ouch! It hurt to hear that.

If money is not an issue, of course we want to provide the best care for our elderly parents. But if that means digging a deep hole in our retirement savings, or worse, getting into debt, we might want to consider a much cheaper alternative - the government hospital. The service is just as good, if not better than in the pricey private hospitals.

That is exactly what CEO of AKPK, Ms Koid Swee Lian,  (Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency) advises. "While the government service may be a bit slow simply because there are many patients, you can actually save quite a lot of money there."

According to her, "in the Chinese community friends and relatives will say you are heartless if you don't send your parent to the best hospital. But what if you can't afford it?"

Many people use their credit card to pay a deposit first when they get their parent admitted to a private hospital in an emergency. They have no idea about the medical expenses till the bills are presented to them. That's how they get into debt. About 26 per cent of people who seek help from AKPK do so because they have defaulted on loan repayment for high medical expenses, says Ms Koid.

Sungai Buloh Hospital

Private hospital or government hospital? For many retirees from the middle income group, the answer is obvious. Or is it? There are still many who remain skeptical about the quality of medical services and health care offered at government hospitals. Having had the experience of staying in both private and government hospitals, I say go for the latter. Government hospitals should be our preferred choice when we are living on limited financial resources.

Our healthcare system is among the best in the world. It is heavily subsidized by the government (taxpayers money), so hospital charges and medicine can be kept low, even free. In case you are not aware, anyone who has contracted an infectious disease such as malaria, can be treated at the Sungai Buloh hospital absolutely FREE.

Let's have more faith in our public hospitals and healthcare system.

Note the caption on the bus. 

ENCOUNTERING AGE DISCRIMINATION AT THE BANK

My mother hasn't been discharged yet, but every few days, the hospital would contact me and request for a RM8000 top-up. So far, the cost of her 12-day hospitalization, angioplasty and hip surgery has exceeded RM31,000. She has at least another 4-5 days to go before she can go home. I dread to receive the final bill.

Yesterday I was at the bank on what I knew was a 'mission impossible' - to ask for a raise on my credit card limit so I could pay for each hospital top-up. No harm trying, I thought. Just as I had feared, the bank imposed conditions that I couldn't meet because of my age. It was all too familiar, as I was given the same conditions when I tried to apply for a second credit card last year.


What were the conditions? They wanted me to submit my latest income statement. Hello, I'm 63 and retired. I haven't been in full-time employment for years. They also asked for a copy of my FD accounts. The amounts I have in my FDs are embarrassing, and for my eyes only.

Doesn't it count that I have never been in credit card debt, or any debt, for that matter? I have a sparkling clean record, and an AAAA rating on my integrity. But I guess the banks are not impressed by such pristine track records. They can't impose a fee on me for late payment or charge me interest on bank loans or overdrafts. In short, I'm not considered a good customer.


The bill I received on 16 March - this is only a sub-total of page 1. Take a closer look at the most costly items. (Click on image to enlarge.)

All this means I have to get a banker's cheque made out in favour of the hospital. The hospital does not accept personal cheques. And if the costs keep escalating, as they definitely will, I'll have to visit the bank 2-3 more times to get the cheques done. What a hassle!

And that's not the only case of age discrimination I encountered of late. More in the next blog post.

Related Post:
Credit Card Discrimination Against Retirees