KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — A 74-year-old woman may end up paying more in medical insurance premiums, which have been rising nearly every year in the past decade, than the sum assured, according to a group of PKR MPs.
In a joint statement, Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah, Sungai Petani MP Dr Taufiq Johari, Segamat MP R. Yuneswaran, and Miri MP Chiew Choon Mun highlighted a complainant, who wrote to them about the increase in her annual premiums from RM2,816 in 2014 to RM10,815 in 2024, representing a 284 per cent rise.
The annual premium for her insurance policy, which she has been paying for 18 years, jumped 78 per cent from RM6,065 in 2023 to RM10,815 this year.
“If this 78 per cent increase continues every year in the coming years, in just three years in 2027, she would have paid RM60,994, exceeding the sum assured of RM60,000,” said the government backbenchers.
“This is very unjust to a senior citizen and a female retiree who is no longer working. How can she cover the surge in her insurance premium, while the sum assured stays the same and in fact is less in value?
“It’s such cases that make the people angry at insurance and takaful operators (ITOs). The people are angry because the rise in insurance premiums is not commensurate with their coverage.”
The PKR lawmakers asked Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to clarify if ITOs will indeed raise health insurance premiums as planned.
“Will BNM instruct ITOs to review the raise? What action will BNM take against ITOs that ignore BNM’s directives?”
In a statement yesterday, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) clarified that it did not state there is “no immediate change” to recent medical insurance premium hikes of 40 per cent to 70 per cent, as reported by Business Times in its interview with LIAM CEO Mark O’Dell.
“LIAM is still in discussions with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) about measures to ease the burden on policyholders resulting from the unprecedented rise in claims over the past several years,” LIAM said.
O’Dell also told Business Times that the central bank has directed LIAM to publish charges by different private hospitals to insurers for 10 to 15 common procedures. LIAM is expected to publish the data in a consumer-friendly format in the middle of next year.
BNM’s mandate potentially interferes with the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) jurisdiction. The only private health care charges regulated under the Private Healthcare Facilities & Services Act (PHFSA) 1998 are doctor fees.
