KUALA LUMPUR — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) may not be getting the full picture on the hike in medical insurance premiums for 2025, as there are cases where policyholders have been asked to pay more than the supposed maximum increase of 70%, PKR lawmaker said today.
Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin said reports that premiums will be raised between 30% and 70% next year are not entirely true, as PKR has received complaints of increases as high as 186%.
Reiterating calls for BNM to cap any increase to not more than 10% for next year, Sim today highlight cases that showed “unreasonable” premium hikes of more than the stated maximum 70%.
“We want to tell BNM that there exist cases of more than 70% premium increases. BNM may not have complete information as it has to monitor so many policies. They may not be getting the full picture. They also need time to study matters.
“We’re not blaming BNM. As people’s representatives, we’re just raising their concerns,” he said at a press conference in Parliament .
Sim shared with the media three cases that involved medial insurance premium hikes of 186%, 171% and 170% in the span of one year, from 2024 to 2025.
In the first complaint, the policyholder is being asked to pay RM1,862 next year, from RM651 this year.
Sim said this was an “unreasonable” and “very unfair” increase of 186%, noting that medical cost inflation is just 15% in Malaysia.
In the second case, the 74-year-old and retired policyholder had been paying RM3,419 a year since 2008, until 2018 when the premium was raised marginally. However, for 2024, the premium amount has jumped by 171%, Sim said.
“This woman is a retiree, with no income…in her complaint to us she said she cannot afford to pay such a high premium anymore,” he said.
In the third case, a 60-year-old woman began paying RM1,242 for her annual premium since 2007, but for 2025, she is to pay RM16,332 to continue receiving coverage.
Sim noted the 1214% hike over time, but added that it was still unreasonably high to pay in one increment.
He also said PKR had received 256 complaints about insurance premiums and related matters in the span of one month, many of them from retirees and cancer patients.
“We appeal to BNM, don’t allow an increase of more than 10%, as not everyone with a policy will utilise their claims. Capping it at 10% for 2025, given that medical cost inflation is 15%, is fairer.”
It has been reported that Malaysia’s medical cost inflation at 15% is higher than the Asia Pacific average at 11%, and the global rate of 10%.
As a long-term move, Sim added that BNM and the Health Ministry should form a cabinet-level task force to study the medical health insurance and takaful (MHIT) sector comprehensively.
With him at the press conference today were PKR senators Abun Sui Anti, Amir Md Ghazali, Manolan Mohamad, and Ahmad Azam Hamzah.
On Dec 10, BNM briefed government MPs over concerns regarding the rising cost of medical insurance premiums. While it was reported that increments of up to 70% are to be implemented next year by MHITs, Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng later revealed that BNM told lawmakers it had yet to approve the premium hikes. – December 19, 2024