KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Only about 4 per cent of applicants for mySalam’s critical illness benefit, or fewer than three dozen Malaysians, have received the government insurance scheme’s RM8,000 payout.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed with CodeBlue that a total of RM248,000 has been disbursed under the critical illness component, with 31 out of 737 submitted claims successfully processed so far. The rest are still being reviewed.
Earlier, its spokeswoman Zakiah Hanum Kassim had said to Bernama that this involved two types of payments: RM8,000 for those suffering from critical illnesses and an allowance of RM50 per day for those hospitalised up to RM700 per annum.
From March to early June, a total of 2,474 people have applied for benefits through the mySalam national health protection scheme.
In addition to the payouts for critical illness, RM101,600 has been paid to individuals claiming the hospital allowance.
The total disbursements made to successful applicants under this scheme thus far is RM349,600.
“The government is actively conducting various awareness programmes to provide information especially to eligible recipients of the scheme so that they will submit the applications and receive the benefits of the scheme,” she said.
The Finance Ministry, working in collaboration with different parties, has intensified promotional and publicity efforts on mySalam that include roadshows to disseminate information to the public in several states in the peninsula, including Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
Kiosks are being set up in hospitals nationwide beginning this month in an effort to increase awareness, as well as the number of applications from the target groups.
These include Kuala Lumpur Hospital; Ampang Hospital; Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital Klang; Selayang Hospital; Kajang Hospital; Shah Alam Hospital; Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital; Sungai Buloh Hospital; Serdang Hospital; Banting Hospital; Putrajaya Hospital; Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital Seremban; Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kota Kinabalu and General Hospital in Kuching.
Launched on January 24 this year, the MySalam protection scheme is a takaful protection provided to the bottom 40 per cent (B40) through a RM2 billion fund, managed by Great Eastern Takaful Bhd.
Around 3.69 million recipients, comprising those from the B40 group who are also recipients of the Cost of Living Aid, aged 18 to 55, and their spouses, are expected to benefit.
They are eligible to receive a one-off cash payment of RM8,000 if they are diagnosed with one of the 36 types of critical illness, or an allowance of RM50 per day, or a maximum of RM700 per year, if undergoing treatment at government hospitals.
