PARLIAMENT | Former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has claimed that some patients had their surgeries halted midway after the specialist attending to them was removed from an insurer’s cashless panel, forcing hospitals to call in doctors from elsewhere.

The Bera MP raised the matter while debating Budget 2027 at the committee stage in the Dewan Rakyat today.

“I was informed that there are specialist doctors who have been removed from insurers’ cashless facilities, to the extent that there have been cases where patients undergoing surgery had to stop because the doctor on duty did not have cashless facilities,” he said.

However, Ismail Sabri did not identify the hospital, doctor, or insurer involved. Malaysiakini has contacted him for further information.