Etiqa responds to boycott call

Etiqa Insurance & Takaful has responded to a call by general practitioners (GP) to boycott and suspend cashless services to all Etiqa panels.

Etiqa said that they are engaging with the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) to come up with solutions to their grouses.

The response came following a boycott call by MMA and Medical Association and Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia (MPCAM).

On Thursday, MMA president Datuk Dr N.K.S.Tharmaseelan said beginning February 1, 2014, Etiqa removed over 200 GPs from its panel of clinics that do not have a current account with Maybank, the bank which is affiliated with the insurance firm.

He added that the ‘condition’ was not in the original appointment letter to the GPs.

There are also other outstanding issues that the GPs were not happy about such as delayed payments from Etiqa via a third party administrator.

"We hear the feedback from the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and we do understand their position. Our intention is to expedite payment to the GPs on our panel. Rest assured that we are actively engaging them to work out a solution", Etiqa said in an email statement to Astro AWANI.