KUALA LUMPUR — In response to rising private healthcare costs, Malaysia will launch MediAsas—a low-cost voluntary medical insurance and takaful scheme—in 2027, with basic monthly premiums starting at RM65.
Designed for middle-income Malaysians priced out of conventional policies, MediAsas entered its pilot testing phase last week to refine claims processing and hospital guarantee letter workflows ahead of its nationwide rollout next year.
Formerly known as the Base MHIT Plan, the standalone policy operates independently of investment-linked financial products, ensuring premium payments go strictly toward medical coverage.
Coverage, Limits, and Benefits
- Eligibility: Open to Malaysians aged up to 70 years old, with coverage guaranteed until age 85.
- Annual Limits: Features an annual cap of RM100,000—sufficient to cover approximately 10 average hospital admissions based on 2024 healthcare costs (~RM9,300 per stay). The limit automatically scales up to RM150,000 once policyholders reach age 60.
- Outpatient & Acute Care: Covers outpatient treatments for common acute illnesses, including dengue, influenza A and B, bronchitis, and pneumonia, as well as selected high-cost outpatient treatments like chemotherapy.
- Standard Plus Tier: Offers an expanded RM300,000 annual limit at below-market rates for individuals seeking supplemental coverage above employer-provided benefits.
- Payment Funding: Policyholders can pay premiums out-of-pocket or via their EPF Account Sejahtera.
Two-Tier Co-Payment System
To curtail healthcare over-utilization and keep premiums affordable over the long term, MediAsas introduces a structured co-payment framework:
- Panel (In-Network) Hospitals: Policyholders pay a flat RM500 deductible per disability, with no additional co-payment required.
- Non-Panel (Out-of-Network) Hospitals: Policyholders pay the RM500 deductible plus a 20% co-payment, capped at a maximum out-of-pocket expenditure of RM3,000 per disability.
(For policyholders aged 61 and above, the deductible increases to RM1,000 to correspond with the higher RM150,000 annual limit).
Consumer Safeguards & Medical Inflation Strategy
A major feature of MediAsas is its “no-look-back” clause, which prohibits insurance operators from reviewing past medical records to deny claims based on pre-existing non-disclosures.
Furthermore, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) requires all licensed insurers to offer MediAsas as their entry-level product. This guarantees that policyholders can downgrade coverage during financial hardship or port away from employer plans without losing continuity of coverage.
MediAsas represents one of 11 core initiatives under the government’s RESET strategy—spearheaded by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, and BNM—to combat a 15% spike in domestic medical inflation recorded in 2024.
