Don't stop insurance coverage when we need healthcare the most

THE government, specifically the Finance and Health ministries and Bank Negara Malaysia, should mandate the medical insurance industry to extend coverage for up to 100 years for all existing policyholders, healthy or otherwise. This would allow policyholders to continue getting medical treatment with peace of mind.

Those who are sick but have been abandoned by their insurance companies have to beg or borrow money for treatment. This is very traumatic, and can kill a person faster than any disease.

It is precisely when we are ill that we need insurance protection the most. Medical insurance providers should not be allowed to abandon their existing policyholders regardless of their health conditions, as they were certified healthy by their panel of doctors when they purchased their policies.

The companies must accept that policyholders do fall ill along life’s journey. They must be ethical and compassionate and continuously care for their customers who have been dutifully paying their premiums since taking up the policies.

The Finance and Health ministries and Bank Negara Malaysia must be aware of the fact that existing policyholders are being abandoned by their insurance providers, as they are not allowed to extend their coverage until 100 years old. They abandon the policyholders in the following scenarios:

1. Policyholders who took proactive action to check certain health conditions although the original check-up by the insurers’ doctors confirmed that they are healthy.

2. Once certain medical conditions are discovered during annual medical check-ups.

3. When policyholders are diagnosed with an illness no matter how minor.

4. When they are considered thin or underweight. This happened to my two of my brothers.

5. When policyholders are given a wrong diagnosis.

I was a victim of a wrong diagnosis. I’m 62 years old this year and my policy expires when I'm 70.

When I was admitted for palpitations in a government hospital in Putrajaya, the medical officer (MO) who attended to me diagnosed that I had heart disease.

In 2012, when I did my annual medical check-up at another hospital, a doctor told me I had atrial fibrillation or abnormal heartbeat. He scared the life out of me.

I quickly consulted a specialist at the National Heart Institute (IJN), where I underwent an electrophysiology study (a test used to evaluate the heart's electrical system and to check for abnormal heart rhythms). It was confirmed that I do not have atrial fibrillation.

Instead of punishing us by abandoning us for taking proactive actions to take good care of our own health, medical insurance providers should appreciate us.

These regular health check-ups paid for by the policyholders themselves help the medical insurance industry to save money because when illnesses are discovered early, the cost of treatment would normally be much less compared with discovery in later, critical, end stages.

Medical insurance policies have never been cheap, and now they are getting so expensive they might be beyond reach. But people are willing to be stingy on other things in order to purchase the policies for their protection in case of any illnesses.

No matter how well we take care of ourselves, we could still be inflicted with illnesses. Take, for example, Covid-19, which infected millions of people worldwide. Some of those who survived are still suffering the long-term effects of the disease. The government will remember that the medical insurance industry does not even want to pay for the medical expenses incurred by people who were hospitalised due to Covid-19.

It is already miserable to be ill. Being abandoned by our insurance providers further adds to the misery, as we will have no money for treatment. The nation will then be burdened with a sickly population, which will impact its overall well-being.

Government hospitals and clinics, which are already bursting at the seams with patients, will be further burdened as those who are abandoned by their medical insurance providers seek treatment there. The whole public healthcare system may collapse under this added burden.

My friend’s 90-year-old father who sought treatment at the Emergency Department of the Penang General Hospital last week had to wait for his turn from 4pm till 2am the next day. This case is very real.

Our only hope is to appeal to the Finance and Health ministries and Bank Negara Malaysia to allow all existing medical insurance policyholders, healthy or otherwise, to extend coverage of our medical insurance policies to 100 years old.

We fervently look forward to the government and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also our Finance Minister, to help us. Hear our plea, feel our plight, and give us the benefit of medical insurance coverage in our advancing age when we need healthcare the most.

CHUI HONG

Air Itam, Penang