KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian hospital groups, including listed KPJ Healthcare Bhd and TMC Life Sciences Bhd, may benefit from Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF)’s Medisave scheme, after the island state relaxed regulations on its citizens receiving medical treatment from Malaysia.
Lower medical bills and cheaper drugs have lured Singaporeans and Malaysians working in Singapore to seek medical treatment in Malaysia.
Twelve hospitals in Malaysia are on the CPF’s approved list for use of Medisave funds. None of the KPJ hospitals has been included in that list yet, although KPJ is the largest listed healthcare player in Malaysia with about 20 hospitals, with several of them in Johor.
The 12 hospitals currently on the list include the Regency Specialist Hospital in Johor Bahru and Mahkota Medical Centre in Melaka, both under Health Management International Ltd (HMI), a healthcare group in Singapore, as well as Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur and nine other Pantai group hospitals across the country.
Analysts see the Singapore government’s move as an opportunity for Malaysian players to capture a bigger piece of an already rapidly growing market. The race for Singapore patients could also see increased competition and expansion among the existing players.
“There will always be a lot of competition. It cannot be avoided,” said a healthcare analyst. “Companies like Columbia Asia are also fast expanding to accommodate the growing demand,” he added.
According to the analyst, it is still unclear if KPJ will be bidding to be part of the list as it has yet to make any announcement on the matter. Nevertheless, the group recently announced two new ventures to build hospitals in Klang and Penang to expand its network of hospitals.
Due to increasing demand as well as the government’s aspirations to become a major healthcare tourism destination, last week Singapore billionaire Peter Lim announced a joint venture with the Johor royal family to build a RM4.6 billion medical hub and marina city spanning 10 ha in Johor Bahru.
The first phase of the project will include a private hospital and healthcare-related facilities. A division of Thomson Medical, Thomson International Health Services, also based in Singapore, will manage the hospital once completed. Only those who are referred from Thomson Medical Centre Singapore will be able to use their Medisave reserves for treatment.
Lim is the largest shareholder of Thomson Medical as well as Bursa Malaysia-listed TMC Life Sciences, which owns a hospital in Kota Damansara.
TMC shares gained 1.5 sen or 3.7% to 42 sen on a heavy volume of 5.51 million shares while KPJ shares gained 4 sen or 1% to RM4.08 on a volume of 906,800 shares yesterday.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 15, 2011.
Lower medical bills and cheaper drugs have lured Singaporeans and Malaysians working in Singapore to seek medical treatment in Malaysia.
Twelve hospitals in Malaysia are on the CPF’s approved list for use of Medisave funds. None of the KPJ hospitals has been included in that list yet, although KPJ is the largest listed healthcare player in Malaysia with about 20 hospitals, with several of them in Johor.
The 12 hospitals currently on the list include the Regency Specialist Hospital in Johor Bahru and Mahkota Medical Centre in Melaka, both under Health Management International Ltd (HMI), a healthcare group in Singapore, as well as Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur and nine other Pantai group hospitals across the country.
Analysts see the Singapore government’s move as an opportunity for Malaysian players to capture a bigger piece of an already rapidly growing market. The race for Singapore patients could also see increased competition and expansion among the existing players.
“There will always be a lot of competition. It cannot be avoided,” said a healthcare analyst. “Companies like Columbia Asia are also fast expanding to accommodate the growing demand,” he added.
None of the KPJ hospitals has been included in CPF's list yet, although KPJ is the largest listed healthcare player in Malaysia with about 20 hospitals, of which several are in Johor.
According to the analyst, it is still unclear if KPJ will be bidding to be part of the list as it has yet to make any announcement on the matter. Nevertheless, the group recently announced two new ventures to build hospitals in Klang and Penang to expand its network of hospitals.
Due to increasing demand as well as the government’s aspirations to become a major healthcare tourism destination, last week Singapore billionaire Peter Lim announced a joint venture with the Johor royal family to build a RM4.6 billion medical hub and marina city spanning 10 ha in Johor Bahru.
The first phase of the project will include a private hospital and healthcare-related facilities. A division of Thomson Medical, Thomson International Health Services, also based in Singapore, will manage the hospital once completed. Only those who are referred from Thomson Medical Centre Singapore will be able to use their Medisave reserves for treatment.
Lim is the largest shareholder of Thomson Medical as well as Bursa Malaysia-listed TMC Life Sciences, which owns a hospital in Kota Damansara.
TMC shares gained 1.5 sen or 3.7% to 42 sen on a heavy volume of 5.51 million shares while KPJ shares gained 4 sen or 1% to RM4.08 on a volume of 906,800 shares yesterday.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, November 15, 2011.
