KUALA LUMPUR: The basic Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) product currently under development is not intended to become a mandatory national health insurance scheme.
Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying clarified that the product represents a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health.
She stated that the MHIT product could potentially serve as a benchmark for any future national health insurance system if such a scheme is introduced.
“We are still actively engaging with key stakeholders to ensure that all views on the product’s design and structure are taken into account,“ she said during a parliamentary session.
Lim was responding to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Wu Him Ven about government preparedness for an inclusive national health insurance scheme.
She confirmed that the basic MHIT concept is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.
Full implementation of the MHIT product is targeted for completion by the end of 2026.
In response to another question about takaful premium rates, Lim noted that Bank Negara Malaysia has taken interim measures to cushion premium increases.
She revealed that more than 90% of adjusted policies recorded premium increases of less than 10% in the first year.
The government has also introduced the Perlindungan Tenang scheme, which recorded over 530,000 subscriptions for microinsurance and microtakaful products last year.
Overall subscriptions have reached 4.9 million since the Perlindungan Tenang policy document launched in 2017.
This represents an estimated 49-fold increase compared to initial uptake figures.
Currently, 10 products under the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher Programme are being offered by insurers and takaful operators.
These products provide basic protection against key risks including death, accidents and other misfortunes. – Bernama