PSM’s Dr Michael Jeyakumar says Malaysia has a better public healthcare system than the US, despite its smaller budget.
“Insurance in the US, like insurance here, is risk-rated. So if you are older, you have to pay more; if your family has a history of diabetes, you pay higher premiums.” Although Great Eastern Takaful Bhd will administer the scheme, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the 3.7 million expected to benefit from it are not Great Eastern customers.However, Jeyakumar said if Great Eastern was administering the scheme, it would have access to the data in question which could be used in future attempts to approach the B40 group.
“But it will open the entire population to further attempts by insurance companies to reach the B40 market.