Keeping cost of medical insurance affordable

I REFER to the StarBiz article “Health insurance needs to be disrupted” (The Star, Jan 4). I agree with the author’s view that there is a need to disrupt the provision of health insurance services (HIS) in Malaysia, but I believe that he only covered the surface of the problem and did not provide any practical solutions.

The malady of HIS in Malaysia is so chronic that the product can no longer be considered as insurance. An insurance arrangement is a scheme where the provider takes a calculated financial risk with a reasonable opportunity for the insurer to make money. In the case of HIS, the downside risk is so obvious and any adjustment in the product price will not arrest the loss. This results in frequent price adjustments to cater to the minimum profit for the insurer and to cover the deficit in the insurance risk fund.