THE Ministry of Health has recently recorded a whooping RM100 million owed to the nation’s government hospitals after treating foreigners who have absconded from paying the bills, according to a source.
A report by Berita Harian showed that foreigners, especially illegal immigrants, have incurred debts with government hospitals after seeking various treatments for their ailments.
“Treatments still have to be afforded to foreigners on the basis of basic human rights and sympathy, despite their questionable status – whether they have entered the country illegally.
“Even though they have registered with us and paid a deposit in advance, in the end they escaped because they refused to pay the arrears of treatment bills that may exceed their expectations.
“The reasons that are often used (by them) are having no money, promising to pay later and some just disappear,” the source said.
It is understood that foreigners who “owe” government hospitals their payment of medical bills involve 38 countries for the past few years.
Aside from neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Myanmar and Indonesia, foreigners from more developed countries like the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (US), Germany, Finland, Sweden and Japan were revealed to have been involved in this issue as well.
The Health Director General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan also confirmed the amount and will issue a statement regarding the matter.
