It’s 1Care Jaws for the gravy train!

The ministry told the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) at a seminar on Jan 15 that it was finalising 1Care proposals and that a Pharmacy Act would be tabled at the next Parliament sitting to facilitate the transition to the new insurance scheme.

Jackson Ng, Retired Journalist

BEWARE of 1Care Jaws! The gravy train sharks are working overtime to loot billions of ringgit from taxpayers. Healthy Minister Liow Tiong Lai says the proposal for all employees and businesses to pay 10 per cent of their monthly income to a 1Care insurance fund for healthcare costs had yet to be finalised.

In the first place, if the Barisan Nasional (BN) government and Liow have the interest of the people at heart, the ridiculous quantum should not even have been be proposed.

Furthermore, can you trust a MCA health minister who lied through his teeth to protect the police (read BN wing) who invaded and attacked Tung Shin Hospital (read a hospital) during Bersih 2.0.

Only after tonnes of video and pictorial evidence went viral on the internet did BN, Liow and the government retreated but without any apology.

Why the greedy BN government and its cronies should not even make such a proposal? Consider the following:
Each year, Malaysians will pay RM44.24 billion for health care; to be called National Healthcare Hospitals and clinics featuring an integration of public hospitals and clinics, private hospitals and private general practitioners. It is in realty another privatisation of public and nationalisation of private healthcare facilities (Like any previous BN government privatisation con, some BN crony will benefit). Upon privatisation, all healthcare will be managed and handled by 1Care which will get RM44.5 billion a year; and

The administrative cost is likely to be 10% or about RM4.5 billion! (Who is the crony who will be getting this year in and year out? You need not look far, just look at the ongoing expose of the National Feedlot Corporation financial fiasco, now dubbed the Cowgate Scandal by Malaysians, to determine what sort of health services you can expect from 1Care.)

Now, is it a wonder that the proposal has raised the ire of private medical practitioners and the public after details of the social health insurance were posted online several weeks ago.

Now, Malaysians. If you don’t try to prevent and stop the BN from bankrupting the country and our very own pockets, go ahead and trust your “I trust you, you trust me” prime minister and his lying health minister from, of all parties, the MCA led by an immoral president.

Already, there are signs of bullshitting by the government.

Liow says: “Nothing is final, even the 10 per cent salary (mandatory contribution) is a proposal … It hasn’t come to the policy stage yet.

“ … the healthcare system revamp is still in its infancy, my ministry will consult as many stakeholders as possible before formulating the scheme.”

However, the ministry told the Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society (MPS) at a seminar on Jan 15 that it was finalising 1Care proposals and that a Pharmacy Act would be tabled at the next Parliament sitting to facilitate the transition to the new insurance scheme. According to the minutes of the seminar, the ministry’s health policy and planning deputy director, Dr Nordin Saleh, told MPS then: “The 1Care transformation proposals are now in the final stages.”

Malaysians are again placed in a situation to unravel who is/are lying for the billions of ringgit from taxpayers.

Liow was also quoted as saying: “There’s no point doing things in a hurry. We’d like to engage the public so they may give feedback and even propose better models. “A briefing will soon be held to dispel rumours surrounding 1Care.”

If so, what is Dr Nordin saying: “…finalising 1Care proposals and that a Pharmacy Act would be tabled at the next Parliament …”

Under 1Care, individuals and businesses will be forced to hand over 10 per cent of their earnings each month to a government-run insurance fund, another Cowgate, I must say to make my point clear to the mongoloids supporting BN. 1Care is said to be mooted under the 10th Malaysia Plan and modelled entirely after the UK’s publicly-funded National Healthcare Service (NHS).

Why not Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system reputed to be the best in the world? No gravy to lick? In Canada the employed, the self-employed, the unemployed, the rich the poor all get the same top level of medical treatment. No one is denied proper medical care due to lack of money.

The Canadian system allows its citizens to pick their own doctors, go see whichever doctor they want to see, and extra billing i.e. extra charges by the doctor is NOT allowed. (No gravy for BN cronies, you see!).

The health care system covers all basic medical care including doctors, surgery, hospital stays, etc. There is no limit on how many times citizens can see the doctor in a year or limit to the cost of our medical treatment. Whatever is necessary? For example, a Canadian sees his doctor and gets laboratory tests once every three months on a regular basis and not a penny out of his or her pocket. Or if one feels some aches and pains, he or she can go see a physical therapist or a chiropractor and it is all covered.

Canadians who opt to get any extra medical care not covered, such as cosmetic surgery or traditional Chinese medical consultation or get acupuncture treatment, they have to pay the first 20% of their income and the rest are tax deductable.

Australia, New Zealand and many European countries also have public health care system. Even the US is trying to start one now. So, it shouldn’t be that scary! But BN’s way is really scary because it is all about the gravy train, not the people’s interest.