PUTRAJAYA: PKR members of parliament and senators have called on Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to limit medical insurance premium hikes to less than 10 per cent.
In a joint statement today, the lawmakers said a reasonable increase was essential to ensure such services remain affordable for the M40 group. They said medical insurance should not be perceived as an exclusive service for the wealthy elite.
"If the M40 group cannot afford medical insurance, they will turn to government hospitals. This will burden public hospitals and the national healthcare system.
"We urge BNM to act decisively as a regulator to rectify the disorder within this sector," they said.
They also welcomed the announcement by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan who said an interim solution to the issue would be announced next week.
"On Dec 10, BNM briefed government MPs. During the briefing, we were informed that healthcare inflation in Malaysia stands at 15 per cent, compared with 11.1 per cent in other Asia-Pacific countries.
"However, we have received complaints of medical insurance premium hikes as high as 78 per cent. This figure far exceeds Malaysia's 15 per cent healthcare inflation rate, and PKR lawmakers reject such excessive premium increases," they said.
The statement was issued jointly by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, Jimmy Pua (Tebrau), R. Yuneswaran (Segamat), Chew Choon Mun (Miri) and Senator Amir Ghazali.
Previously, it was reported that medical insurance premiums were set to rise by 40 to 70 per cent next year.
In response, on Nov 29, BNM directed insurance companies and takaful operators (ITOs) to review their pricing strategies for medical and health insurance (MHIT) to ensure they were more reasonable.
https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/11/1141026/health-insuran...
This includes managing premium or contribution hikes while considering the impact on policyholders.
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Kw: NST, Malaysia news, news, medical insurance premium hike, Bank Negara Malaysia, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, healthcare inflation, PKR MPs and senators, limit premium hikes, less than 10 per cent.