Private healthcare is a common reason for retiring to Penang or Kuala Lumpur. What a private doctor in Malaysia may charge is set by law, in a schedule anyone can read. The limit is the same whether you pay cash or go through an insurer.
The schedule governs the doctor’s fee only. A private hospital bill has other lines on it.
Everything below is from the Thirteenth Schedule of the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Regulations 2006, as replaced by the Amendment Order of 2013, P.U. (A) 358, published in the Federal Government Gazette and hosted by the Ministry of Health’s Medical Practice Division, together with that division’s charging protocols letter of January 2026. Both were read on 23 September 2026.
The fees are maximums, whoever pays
The schedule’s notes say all fees in this Schedule shall be the maximum chargeable fees, and that the schedule applies to any form of payment.
An insured patient and a patient paying at the counter face the same ceiling on the doctor’s professional fee. An insurer’s approval does not raise it, and paying cash does not remove it.
What a consultation may cost
| Consultation | Fee range (RM) |
|---|---|
| GP, first visit | 30 to 125 |
| GP at a clinic without pharmaceutical services | 35 to 145 |
| Specialist, first visit | 80 to 235 |
| Specialist, follow-up | 40 to 105 |
Outside stipulated clinic hours a consultation may be charged at up to 50% above the usual rate, and a house call at up to 100% above it.
What some common procedures may cost
These are the surgeon’s and anaesthetist’s maximum professional fees for procedures that matter more as people age. The hospital’s own charges sit on top, so they are not the price of the operation.
| Procedure, as the schedule names it | Surgeon (RM) | Anaesthetist (RM) |
|---|---|---|
| Phakoemulsification of lens with or without implant (cataract) | 2,570 | 940 |
| Fibreoptic colonoscopy, with or without excision biopsy or destruction of lesion | 1,000 | 435 |
| Total prosthetic replacement of knee joint | 2,705 | 985 |
| Total prosthetic replacement of knee joint, bilateral | 4,750 | 1,550 |
The schedule also caps fees for medical examinations and reports, which matter to anyone applying for residence. A non-specialist’s routine or comprehensive medical examination is RM45 to RM230, excluding laboratory tests, X-rays and ECGs. A medical report is RM55 to RM230 from a non-specialist or RM115 to RM570 from a specialist. Malaysia’s MM2H programme requires a medical check-up at an appointed panel clinic, one of the MM2H conditions that come after approval.
The rules that stop a bill growing
The notes to the schedule set limits that are easy to check against an itemised bill.
- Emergencies out of hours. Surgeons and anaesthetists may add up to 50% of the maximum fee for an emergency procedure out of hours. The schedule defines that as 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays and all day at weekends and on public holidays. The surcharge does not apply to elective procedures.
- Ward visits. Consultation fees for ward visits, including post-operative rounds, may be charged for a maximum of two visits on the same day, unless you ask for more or your condition requires them.
- Two procedures, one incision. The fee for anything beyond the intended procedure may not exceed 50% of that procedure’s fee.
- Two procedures, separate incisions, same occasion. Each may be charged at no more than 75% of its stipulated fee.
In January 2026 the Ministry’s Medical Practice Division issued charging protocols to doctors and insurers. They name items that are part of a primary procedure and not separately chargeable: routine wound dressing in a ward, removal of catheters and drains, routine urinary catheterisation around an operation, spinal cord monitoring during spine surgery, and giving an intravenous infusion, which counts as part of the consultation fee. The same letter notes that the schedule’s consultation fees are for face-to-face consultations, and that teleconsultations follow the Malaysian Medical Council’s guideline instead.
What the schedule does not cover
The schedule is headed fee schedule, professional fee, and contains only doctors’ fees in Part A and dentists’ fees in Part B. It sets no room rates, no ward charges and no drug prices. Where it lists imaging items, the figure is the radiologist’s professional fee, not the facility’s charge for the scan. Those are the hospital’s charges, and they arrive on the same bill.
A capped surgeon’s fee therefore does not mean a capped operation. Before an elective procedure, ask for an estimate that separates the professional fees, which you can check against the schedule, from the hospital’s charges, which you cannot.
Insurance decides what you pay for that uncapped share. For a visitor’s unplanned treatment, SafetyWing’s coverage table sets out what its plan pays towards a hospital bill. The site’s own reading of that table found that Nomad Insurance Essential, its travel medical insurance plan, excludes pre-existing conditions. For many people living in Malaysia long term, that is most of what they need covered. A retiree should treat it as travel medical cover, not health insurance for a life abroad. Read the exclusions in that table before any price.
How to use this
- Ask for an itemised bill, and read the professional fees against the schedule. A fee above the top of the range for the item named is above the legal maximum.
- If an emergency surcharge appears, check the time and whether the procedure was an emergency at all.
- Treat an estimate that gives one total as incomplete, and ask for the split.
Our retirement planning page sets Malaysia’s programmes against the neighbours’ for the rest of the decision.
SafetyWing's coverage table, for the part of the bill the schedule does not cap (affiliate link)