RT @501Awani: "Even if Rakan KKM means shorter wait times for elective procedures, it's those from poorer backgrounds who are most time-poo….

As we discuss about the “need” to monetize public healthcare resources to sustain it, it is worth thinking about the fallacy of the tragedy of the commons:.

Thinking aloud: .If the circumstances exist to allow people to get treatment faster and better, it we should endeavor to make it so for everyone, not just those who can afford to pay more.

I think Rakan KKM will walk an impossible tightrope - it cannot be so big that it affects existing operations but it cannot be so small that it doesn’t make a difference. It also cannot charge anywhere near private providers but it has many of their operating costs.

Grateful to @melisa_idris for inviting me to chat on #ConsiderThis on the topic of Rakan KKM, along with @azrulmohdkhalib. I think we share many concerns about this initiative and I hope the powers-that-be will consider some of our thoughts.

RT @melisa_idris: Is Rakan KKM a pragmatic ‘third lane’ between the extremes of unaffordable private care and overstretched public hospital….

In conjunction with World Hepatitis Day, I wrote a piece on how having technological advances and innovative cures aren’t enough to make progress on the elimination of diseases like Hepatitis C. To truly move the needle, collaborative, public access strategies are needed.

RT @codebluenews: Malaysia has taken a comprehensive approach, including providing free treatment in public health care facilities and inte….

"Amid all the talk. one solution remains curiously absent: progressive taxation of the ultra-rich. Malaysia is not a poor country. The problem is not a lack of resources, but it is the lack of political courage to tax accumulated wealth and the ultra-rich.".

RT @DKThomp: Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* think….

One of the things that I’m guaranteed to get after being on social media for a given amount of time is feeling unaccomplished, inadequate, and not living up to that illusionary bar called my potential. Stay off your phones, kids.

Annoyed - and when annoyed, write long emails, even to people I’m not annoyed at. 😤.

Once again, I would like to say that we all agree that KKM needs more money. What is in question is whether RakanKKM is the right way/only way/best way to do so.

One of the things I worry about with the rise of AI is that we slowly lose what we gain through the uncomfortable and difficult process of figuring things out.

Some useful answers for the difficult questions at the end of life.

One of the things I've noticed in my 5th decade of life is that so many things with me are different. How I read, how I learn, and how I express myself are so different from what I used to know as my way of doing things. There's a lot to unpack here but for now, it's surprising.

Lastly, there is the ethics of the matter. As @yoongkhean has covered this well, I won't belabor the point, other than to say that the one of the best things that the NHS ever did was to offer equal services to all, regardless of income. </end>.

. and how will the complaints of patients who feel disgruntled, disadvantaged, or sidelined due to the preferential treatment given to RakanKKM patients be handled? It is hard to avoid comparisons and unhappy feelings when RakanKKM services operate within the same facility.

Then there is the management of expectations. For decades, Malaysians using PHC facilities have tolerated less-than-ideal services/facilities as a trade-off for (essentially) no charges. Will RakanKKM services live up to new expectations of paying patients?.

. and what does one consider to be an elective procedure? If RakanKKM only provides for services that are aesthetic or clinically minor, its scope would be so limited to render it futile. On the other hand, it's hard to say if a cardiology appointment is elective or not.