KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians could be paying a monthly premium of as low as RM50 with the Base Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) plan, which will be rolled out early next year.
According to the Base Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) White Paper released on Thursday (Jan 22), there are two plans, namely the Standard Plan and the lower-cost Standard Plus Plan.
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The monthly premiums for the Standard Plan for those aged between 31 and 35 years old range from RM80 to RM120, and Standard Plus at RM50 to RM70.
However, the RM50 for the Standard Plus Plan is only possible with deductibles.
Those aged 61 to 65 will pay RM280 to RM350 for the Standard Plan, while for the Standard Plus Plan, they will be paying RM220 to RM280.
Those aged above 75 will be paying RM500 to RM780 for the Standard Plan, while the Standard Plus Plan will cost them RM400 to RM660.
“The annual policy limit is set at RM100,000. This limit is supported by recent medical claims distributions and trends, which suggest that the limit would be adequate to cover 99% of treatment episodes across a range of common medical conditions, even after allowing for some possibility of multiple admissions,” said the White Paper released by Bank Negara Malaysia.
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Recognising that older individuals may be more likely to present with multiple and more complex medical conditions, which can lead to higher treatment costs, the annual policy limit automatically adjusts upwards to RM150,000 for individuals aged above 60 years.
“This will provide an additional level of protection that ensures the annual limit remains relevant over a person’s lifetime,” it added.
Individuals will also have the option of buying a standard-plus base MHIT plan that provides a higher amount of coverage with an annual policy limit of RM300,000, at considerably lower premiums.
"Under this plan, individuals will bear the costs of hospital bills up to the deductible amount in the event of a hospitalisation episode, and the plan will pay for any costs above that amount.
“For the standard-plus plan, the deductible levels of between RM10,000 and RM15,000 are being considered, in line with comparable products in the market," the White Paper added.
This plan caters to individuals who are already covered by employer medical benefits or have the ability to bear a larger share of payments for hospital bills and only wish to protect themselves against catastrophic expenditures.
The rates in the white paper are just early target premium rates. The full premium rates will be announced closer to the official product launch slated for early next year.
