Bella (not her real name) recently received a statement from her insurer detailing how much she had paid over the years for her medical insurance coverage. When she first purchased the policy in 2002, she was serving as Director of Corporate Communications at a public-listed company in Petaling Jaya. At the time, the annual premium of RM672.50 was easily within her means. "It was like dropping a frog into a pot of water that was slowly brought to a simmer," she recalled. "All along, I believed my medical insurance premiums were simply my contribution to a pool of funds that would help protect me in my later years. Now, I'm beginning to think twice." For the next five years, from September 2005 to March 2010, her premium increased by about RM200 annually. While noticeable, the increases remained manageable. Another rise of RM204 over the subsequent five-year period was similarly bearable. The real pressure began to build after 2015. Between 2015 and 2020, the ...
Click to read I write to express my deep concern and outrage over the exorbitant increases in medical insurance premiums imposed by insurance companies recently. In my own experience, a half-yearly premium that usually cost around RM1,300 has ridiculously ballooned nearly five-fold. Citing the rising cost of medical services as the standard justification, insurers are pricing ordinary Malaysians out of basic health security. First, this gradual yet steep escalation will inevitably lead to a high attrition rate among policyholders, particularly senior citizens. Having dutifully paid premiums for decades during their working lives, retirees now find themselves facing astronomical sums at a time when they have no regular income. Unable to afford these sudden hikes, many are forced to lapse their policies, effectively rendering decades of financial discipline and protection worthless overnight. Second, the current system highlights a stark imbalance of power. ...