KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) will establish controls to ensure that medical insurance premiums will not rise too steeply to the extent of burdening the people and leading to increase in inflation.
He said that BNM, together with the Ministry of Finance and MOH, is currently looking into it and will issue strict guidelines to ensure that medical and health insurance and takaful (MHIT) providers, as well as insurers and takaful operators (ITO), take several factors into account.
"The (inevitable) increase is due to the lower threshold in Malaysia, with high medical costs and expensive services, according to the explanation given by insurance companies.
"However, MOH and BNM are working closely to ensure that the increase is considered reasonable and does not burden the people," he said during Minister's Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Anwar was replying to Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) who wanted to know the government's measures to address the rise in medical insurance premiums by 40 to 70 per cent and the 12.6 per cent inflation rate in the country’s medical costs in 2023, more than twice the global average of 5.6 per cent.