Foreigners Owe Malaysian Government Hospitals To The Tune Of US$11.47 Million

LARUT (Perak, Malaysia), April 17 (Bernama) -- The amount of unpaid bills of foreigners who received services in all government hospitals across the country from 2012 to last year stands at US$11.47 million (RM50.5 million). Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahya said efforts were being made to track down the foreigners, including finding out their local addresses and employers, as well as seeking help from foreign embassies in Malaysia. He said most of the foreigners who entered the country legally did not face the problem of settling their bills because they had insurance coverage. "The ones giving the problem are those who came illegally and do not even have valid residential address," he told reporters near here, Sunday. He was commenting on a newspaper report yesterday which said foreign nationals from 38 countries owed the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) US$1.78 million (RM7.87 million) in medical bills over the past few years. The report said that last year alone, the foreigners had racked up US$681,585 (RM3 million) in arrears at HKL. Hilmi said this also proved that the government was very accommodative and concerned of foreigners who came to the hospital for treatment, especially during emergency cases. "When they have recovered their health, they run away from the hospital without paying the bills," he said. --BERNAMA