KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Finance Minister Lim Hui Ying reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to providing affordable medical protection plans to help citizens manage rising healthcare costs, especially as the population ages.
“The government is deeply concerned about the challenges faced by the M40 group, including the increasing cost of medical insurance premiums as they grow older,” she said in response to a parliamentary question by Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri).
The M40 category represents the middle 40% of households in Malaysia, encompassing 3.16 million families with monthly incomes ranging from RM5,251 to RM11,819.
Malaysia is projected to become an aged nation by 2040, earlier than expected, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM). By then, over 17% of the population, which currently stands at around 34 million, will be aged 60 and above.
Lim highlighted the government’s efforts to enhance the i-Lindung insurance programme, which offers affordable medical protection plans for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members. The self-service platform, available on i-Akaun, enables members to purchase insurance and takaful products under the EPF protection scheme.
So far, 144,589 EPF members have utilized Akaun Sejahtera (formerly known as Account 2) to buy life and critical illness protection plans through i-Lindung, with products provided by five insurance operators.
“The government welcomes suggestions and is committed to reviewing them comprehensively,” Lim said in response to Chiew’s proposal to improve i-Lindung through subsidies and negotiations with insurance firms to offer affordable medical coverage for individuals up to the age of 99.
