The government is considering allowing Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to use part of their Account 2 savings to pay monthly health insurance premiums to access treatment at private hospitals.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the move has the potential to benefit about 16 million contributors, in addition to helping reduce the burden of medical costs that are currently borne directly by the people.
According to a report in the New Straits Times yesterday, Dr Dzulkefly explained that the proposed deduction only involves a small percentage of Account 2 and will not involve a direct outflow of cash from contributors’ pockets.
He also informed that this approach is in line with practices in several other countries which prioritise expanding people’s health coverage through retirement funds, with the aim of reducing reliance on the public health system as well as personal medical expenses which currently comprise 32% of the country’s total healthcare costs.
The proposed new scheme is also expected to give contributors more flexibility to choose a health protection plan that suits their needs, especially for those who want more comprehensive coverage.
However, Dr Dzulkefly stressed that the scheme is optional and will not replace existing initiatives such as i-Lindung, which focuses on critical illness, disability and death coverage.
Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim warned that the government would not tolerate any unreasonable increase in health insurance premiums, following the country's medical cost inflation rate which soared to 15% this year — far above the global and Asia Pacific average of 10%.
