GST charged on cochlear implants
I AM the parent of a five-year-old boy with profound hearing loss on both ears. We found out about his condition when he was one year and eight months old, and we have frantically searched for ways to help him overcome his disability since then.
This led us to a local hospital (HUKM) where he was diagnosed and became a candidate for cochlear implant. Our son is a registered OKU (orang kurang upaya or person with disability) and has the OKU card.
The cost of a cochlear implant including rehabilitation (speech therapy) and regular audiologist appointments to tune and check the device is approximately RM77,000. The Government through the Health Ministry and hospital has a programme to subsidise the cost for eligible recipients. Eligibility depends on the financial status and income of the parents.
This programme is only for one side of the ear as the understanding is that a child with hearing in one ear would be able to hear, develop speech and attend mainstream school. But in developed countries like Australia, children with profound hearing loss in both ears are fitted with cochlear implants on both ears. In Malaysia, parents have to come up with the funds for the second implant themselves.
Surprisingly, the cost of the cochlear implant is subject to GST and is a burden on the parents.
Despite many appeals to the relevant authorities, including the Finance ministry and Customs Department, we have been unable to obtain exemption from GST. The reason given is that parents need to buy the device through an approved association registered with the ministry. Currently, there is none that supports people who need cochlear implants or, for that matter, hearing aids for those with less severe hearing loss.
Requesting an association to fork out so much money to purchase the device upfront and collecting payment from the patients later is not feasible either.
To add to the woes of the hearing-impaired person, the essential accessories like battery, cable, coil and microphone – priced from RM400 to RM1,200 – are also subject to GST.
On behalf of all parents of children with hearing impairment, I would like to humbly appeal to the Government to exempt cochlear implants, hearing aids and accessories from GST as long as the children have a registered OKU card.
And please don’t tell us to go through a registered association and add to our burden as parents. We are doing our best for our children so that they can develop speech, attend mainstream school, be independent, grow up to become good citizens of the country and gain employment.