KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — The government’s health protection scheme mySalam now covers middle class Malaysians with gross annual income of up to RM100,000, who will get RM4,000 cash if diagnosed with a critical illness.
According to Budget 2020 tabled today, this move, which will take effect January 1 next year, will benefit five million people who earn a gross monthly income of up to about RM8,300. They will also get income replacement of RM50 daily for maximum 14 days for hospitalisation at government hospitals.
The scheme administered by insurance company Great Eastern Takaful Bhd under the Finance Ministry’s purview — which provides RM8,000 lump sum cash to Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) cash aid recipients diagnosed with critical illnesses from January 1 this year — has also expanded coverage from 36 to 45 critical illnesses, including terminal diseases and polio, effective January 1 2020.
mySalam also increased coverage of low-income Malaysians from the ceiling age of 55 to 65 next year, benefiting an additional 1.5 million people; the minimum age of coverage is 18 years.
Unmarried BSH recipients aged 40 and above earning less than RM2,000 monthly and people with disabilities aged 18 and above of the same income bracket will also automatically be eligible for mySalam starting next year.
