KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — The majority of Malaysians likely can’t afford the Base Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) Plan’s steep deductibles, said the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy.
Galen Centre chief executive Azrul Mohd Khalib told Astro Awani’s Consider This that Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) own data showed that the percentage of Malaysians who had difficulty raising RM1,000 in an emergency increased from 47 per cent in 2021 to 61 per cent in 2024.
This data was reported in the central bank’s 2024 annual report.
BNM’s White Paper on the Base MHIT Plan proposes RM500 deductible per disability (or episode of illness) under its Standard Plan with an RM100,000 annual limit. For senior citizens aged 61 and above, they face an RM1,000 deductible for RM150,000 annual coverage.
Deductibles are the initial amount a policyholder must pay upfront before coverage begins.
The Base MHIT’s Standard-Plus Plan with an RM300,000 annual limit, which charges RM50-RM70 monthly premiums for the 31-35 age group, comes with deductibles of RM10,000 to RM15,000.
“When you have deductibles of RM10,000 to RM15,000, you have to ask yourself, who can afford this?” Azrul told Consider This host Melisa Idris last Wednesday.
“Bank Negara is asking a lot from people to be able to qualify for the Standard-Plus Plan.”
Yesterday, at the Dewan Rakyat, Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan characterised the Base MHIT Plan’s copayments and deductibles as not “high”, as he placed the onus of controlling health care costs onto consumers.
Azrul also pointed out that various insurance and takaful operators (ITOs) already offer cheaper medical plans than the government’s Base MHIT Plan, but with 10 times more coverage at RM1 million or RM1.5 million annual limits, while maintaining deductibles at RM500 or RM1,000.
“For an insurance plan that is supposed to be the ‘base’, it is most certainly not the base that we’re seeing right now,” he told Consider This.
“Should this be the standard? I would argue that it shouldn’t be the standard because the standard is poorer than what we have in the market today. This isn’t about the most luxurious plan; it’s about what fills our basic needs.
“We see some of the ITOs offering RM60, RM70, RM80 premiums and they offer better than what you can see here in the Base MHIT Plan. Maybe those should be the ‘Base MHIT’ or standard that we should look at.”
CodeBlue’s curation of existing medical plans in the market found at least five products for young adults in their early 30s and three for senior citizens in their early 60s that are comparably priced or even cheaper than the Base MHIT, but with minimum RM1 million annual limits and RM500 or optional deductibles.
For the 31-35 age group, medical plans by Great Eastern Life, Prudential, AIA, Takaful Malaysia’s Kaotim Medikad, and RHB Insurance offer RM5 million to RM1 million annual limits, with monthly premiums ranging from RM62 to RM116.
In comparison, the government’s Base MHIT Plan offers RM100,000 annual cover at RM80 to RM120 monthly premiums.
For the 61-65 age group, Great Eastern Life, AIA, and Kaotim medical plans offer RM5 million to RM1.1 million annual limits, with monthly premiums ranging from RM190 to RM642, while deductibles are RM500 or optional.
The Base MHIT Plan, on the other hand, provides adults in their early 60s an RM150,000 annual limit at monthly premiums of RM280 to RM350. Those aged 75 years and older face RM500 to RM780 monthly premiums. RM1,000 deductible is proposed for seniors.
“RM200 is a lot of money for a retiree,” said Azrul. “Perhaps there should be subsidies by the government to pay for the above-60s age band, allowing them to benefit from coverage of the Base MHIT product.”
He also questioned the “missing” age bands in BNM’s White Paper, as the document does not propose target premiums for those aged below 31, ages 36 to 60, or those aged 66 to 75. “Is the plan not going to cover them?”
Azrul noted that the insurance industry has yet to issue a statement to indicate whether ITOs – who are expected to underwrite and sell the Base MHIT Plan – support the government-designed product.
“As for Malaysians themselves, we don’t want them to think that they’re protected – only to discover they’re uninsured when illness strikes and this forces them back to out-of-pocket payments or queues in public hospitals. We don’t want this false sense of security.”
