Profiteering fears as Malaysians face punishing hike in health insurance

Proliferation of co-payment schemes, reminiscent of health insurance practices in the United States, has stirred fear and anger

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A steep rise in health insurance premiums has forced many Malaysians to return to public hospitals. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 1:41pm, 29 Nov 2024Updated: 1:51pm, 29 Nov 2024

Malaysia’s central bank has instructed private medical insurers to keep down premium increases, as public anxiety mounts over alleged profiteering with rises of up to 70 per cent forecast for next year.

The rare intervention by the bank followed local media reports of Malaysians cancelling medical insurance policies after being unable to afford steep monthly premiums.

Instead, they are returning to government hospitals which are already struggling to cope with a lack of funding and chronic shortages of doctors and nurses, with many leaving the country for better opportunities abroad.

In a statement on Thursday, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) acknowledged the public’s concern and has instructed insurance operators to provide a remedy to the situation.

“[They] must also ensure the options provided are meaningful and provide additional measures to support affected policy owners,” the central bank said.

In July, BNM directed insurance companies to start pushing for policies that require patients to pay a percentage of their medical costs in advance before insurance kicks in as part of its effort to balance access to insurance coverage in the face of the sharp spike in cost of healthcare.

“[This] aims to help contain medical cost inflation in Malaysia by controlling the over-consumption of health services,” BNM said.