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 premiums were revised twice, with each increase approaching RM1,000. By then, the impact was becoming difficult to ignore. Yet, like many policyholders, Bella did nothing. She feared losing the protection she had spent years paying for.
The issue remained largely under the radar because most consumers accepted the increases in silence. It was only when Member of Parliament Sim Tze Tzin publicly questioned insurers' steep premium hikes in 2024 and pushed for parliamentary scrutiny that the issue gained wider attention.
That was also when a close friend of mine, who had previously worked in Singapore, began voicing his frustrations about rising medical insurance costs.
For Bella, the most shocking increase came when she turned 40. The premium she had been paying at age 27 more than doubled. It jumped from RM1,464.18 to RM3,129.76, representing an increase of 113%.
Insurers attributed the higher premiums to rising healthcare and medical treatment costs.
The increases did not stop there. Over the next eight years, from age 40 to 48, her premiums rose four more times, averaging an increase every one to two years. During that period, her annual premium climbed from RM3,129.72 to RM5,741.84, an increase of RM2,612.12 or 84.5%.
She was only 48 years old.
Today, at 62, Bella pays RM3,106.28 every six months, equivalent to RM6,216.56 annually. For many retirees, such a sum can significantly erode retirement savings that have taken decades to accumulate.
The situation has become a source of growing anxiety for her. There is no assurance that premiums will not continue rising as she grows older, particularly after age 70. Insurers maintain that healthcare utilization and treatment costs increase substantially as policyholders age, and argue that premium adjustments are necessary to reflect these higher risks.
For consumers like Bella, however, the question is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: if premiums continue rising faster than their retirement income, how long can they realistically afford to remain insured?
| NO | DUE DATE | TRANSACTION DATE | AMOUNT (RM) | REMARK |
| 1 | 26-Sep-2002 | 26-Sep-2002 | 336.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 2 | 26-Mar-2003 | 18-Mar-2003 | 336.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 3 | 26-Sep-2003 | 6-Oct-2003 | 350.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 4 | 26-Mar-2004 | 29-Mar-2004 | 350.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 5 | 26-Sep-2004 | 28-Sep-2004 | 350.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 6 | 26-Mar-2005 | 6-Apr-2005 | 350.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 7 | 26-Sep-2005 | 23-Sep-2005 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 8 | 26-Mar-2006 | 27-Mar-2006 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 9 | 26-Sep-2006 | 15-Sep-2006 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 10 | 26-Mar-2007 | 6-Apr-2007 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 11 | 26-Sep-2007 | 29-Apr-2007 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 12 | 26-Mar-2008 | 17-Mar-2008 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 13 | 26-Sep-2008 | 16-Sep-2008 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 14 | 26-Mar-2009 | 16-Mar-2009 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 15 | 26-Sep-2009 | 16-Sep-2009 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 16 | 26-Mar-2010 | 16-Mar-2010 | 438.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 17 | 26-Sep-2010 | 17-Sep-2010 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 18 | 26-Mar-2011 | 16-Mar-2011 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 19 | 26-Sep-2011 | 19-Sep-2011 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 20 | 26-Mar-2012 | 16-Mar-2012 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 21 | 26-Sep-2012 | 20-Sep-2012 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 22 | 26-Mar-2013 | 18-Mar-2013 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 23 | 26-Sep-2013 | 18-Sep-2013 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 24 | 26-Mar-2014 | 18-Mar-2014 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 25 | 26-Sep-2014 | 17-Sep-2014 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 26 | 26-Mar-2015 | 27-Mar-2015 | 612.25 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 27 | 26-Sep-2015 | 28-Sep-2015 | 732.09 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 28 | 26-Mar-2016 | 25-Apr-2016 | 732.09 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 29 | 26-Sep-2016 | 23-Sep-2016 | 732.09 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 30 | 26-Mar-2017 | 24-Apr-2017 | 732.09 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 31 | 26-Sep-2017 | 26-Sep-2017 | 837.46 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 32 | 26-Mar-2018 | 23-Mar-2018 | 837.46 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 33 | 26-Sep-2018 | 25-Sep-2018 | 791.87 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 34 | 26-Mar-2019 | 25-Mar-2019 | 791.87 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 35 | 26-Sep-2019 | 23-Sep-2019 | 791.87 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 36 | 26-Mar-2020 | 23-Mar-2020 | 791.87 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 37 | 26-Sep-2020 | 22-Sep-2020 | 1,211.08 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 38 | 26-Mar-2021 | 24-Mar-2021 | 1,211.08 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 39 | 26-Sep-2021 | 3-Nov-2021 | 1,564.88 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 40 | 26-Mar-2022 | 23-Mar-2022 | 1,564.88 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 41 | 26-Sep-2022 | 22-Sep-2022 | 1,564.88 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 42 | 26-Mar-2023 | 22-Mar-2023 | 1,564.88 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 43 | 26-Sep-2023 | 19-Sep-2023 | 1,948.04 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 44 | 26-Mar-2024 | 25-Mar-2024 | 1,948.04 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 45 | 26-Sep-2024 | 24-Sep-2024 | 2,426.99 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 46 | 26-Mar-2025 | 25-Mar-2025 | 2,426.99 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 47 | 26-Sep-2025 | 3-Oct-2025 | 2,870.92 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| 48 | 26-Mar-2026 | 25-Mar-2026 | 2,870.92 | Payment Applied to Premium |
| Note: | ||||
| *Transaction Amount is including Govt. Tax (if applicable). | | |||
Unfair for Bella
For Bella, whose medical expenses were largely covered under her employer's insurance plan, the steep premium increases felt particularly unjust. For at least seven to ten years, she had made little to no claims under her personal policy. Conscious that her coverage for major illnesses was subject to a lifetime limit and would eventually be exhausted, she chose to be prudent rather than rely heavily on her insurance benefits.
"I wanted to preserve it for my old age," she said. "Now, it seems my old age is becoming increasingly uncertain."
She speaks from experience.
"I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42," Bella recalled. "Instead of seeking treatment at a private hospital, I chose to undergo treatment at a government hospital."
At the time, 20 sessions of radiotherapy would have cost about RM33,000 in the private sector. Bella was informed by her insurance agent, the insurer's customer relations manager, and even hospital personnel that radiotherapy was classified as an outpatient treatment and was therefore not covered under her medical insurance policy. Unless she was admitted as an inpatient, she was told, the treatment would not be claimable.
Whether that interpretation was correct or not, Bella accepted the information given to her and proceeded with treatment at a government hospital.
The matter did not end there.
Frustrated by what she believed was an unfair denial, she wrote an open letter to then Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz. Soon after, the insurer contacted her and arranged a meeting at its headquarters on Jalan Ampang. Present at the meeting were at least ten company executives.
To her surprise, she was informed that her policy did, in fact, provide coverage for radiotherapy treatment.
By then, however, the revelation came too late.
"I had already started my treatment at a government hospital," she said. "Had I been given the correct information from the outset, I might have made a very different decision."
For Bella, the episode reinforced a lingering concern among many policyholders: after faithfully paying premiums for decades, understanding precisely what is and is not covered can sometimes prove as challenging as affording the coverage itself.
Please Continue with the Campaign for the Sake of Many Malaysians
I asked Microsoft Co-pilot, what happened after the public session on rising cost of medical insurance at the parliametn organised by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin,
Co-pilot gave the answer as:
"Public complaints championed by Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin brought the issue into the national spotlight. Although premiums were not rolled back, the pressure led to parliamentary scrutiny, regulatory intervention by Bank Negara Malaysia, temporary limits on premium increases, and broader reforms aimed at tackling the root causes of rising medical insurance costs."
Some key developments included:
Parliamentary attention and inquiry proposals
Sim Tze Tzin and other MPs pushed for a parliamentary inquiry into escalating health insurance premiums and private hospital charges, arguing that all stakeholders, including insurers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies, should be examined. Reference
Regulatory intervention by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)
BNM came under pressure to take a more active role in regulating premium increases rather than treating them solely as business decisions by insurers. Sim Tze Tzin publicly called for investigations into what he described as excessive premium hikes. Reference
Temporary limits on premium increases
By 2025, BNM had imposed a cap limiting annual premium increases to 10% per year for three years for many medical insurance policies. However, Sim Tze Tzin later pointed out that significant jumps could still occur when policyholders moved into a higher age band. Reference
Longer-term healthcare insurance reforms
The Madani government subsequently announced broader reforms under the RESET initiative, involving the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, BNM, academics, insurers, and healthcare providers. These reforms were aimed at addressing the underlying drivers of medical inflation and insurance premium increases. Reference
I believe I read somewhere that the govenrment has already introduced a special medical insurance that is more affordable, but little information is getting through. If this is true, we should help to spread the word around so that the medical insurance provided by the government is fully supported and able to bear the cost of medical claims.
What you can do
Insurance companies are not struggling businesses. Most continue to report substantial profits year after year. There is nothing inherently wrong with being profitable, but placing senior citizens in a position where they must choose between maintaining essential medical coverage and preserving their retirement savings is difficult to justify.
This is why public support matters. Speak to your Member of Parliament and urge him or her to support YB Sim Tze Tzin and others who have taken up this issue. No single MP can be expected to tackle a challenge of this magnitude alone. Without strong and sustained public backing, even the most committed lawmakers may find it difficult to push for meaningful reform.
If you are a writer, journalist, blogger, or simply someone with a voice on social media, continue raising awareness. Write about the issue. Share personal experiences. Keep the conversation alive. Meaningful change rarely happens because of a single article or a single parliamentary debate. It happens when enough people refuse to let an issue be forgotten.
For many Malaysians, medical insurance is not a luxury. It is a lifeline built through decades of faithful premium payments. Those who have done the responsible thing by planning for their future should not have to live in fear that healthcare protection will become unaffordable precisely when they need it most.
The objective is not to punish insurers, but to ensure that the system remains fair, transparent, and sustainable for all stakeholders, especially retirees and senior citizens who are often the least able to absorb steep and unexpected increases in premiums. Only then can we truly say that the promise of financial protection in old age has been honoured.
If you are young and think you are not affected, think twice. It's a matter of time when you will be walking around with a walking stick, and being told that your medical insurance has increased by three or four folds.
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