THE government has been urged to create a Rahmah medical insurance scheme or one at affordable rates to address the increasing number of high-income patients in government hospitals following the increase in medical insurance premiums and expensive treatment costs in private hospitals.
Bayan Baru Member of Parliament, Sim Tze Tzin said the insurance could be an alternative for high-and middle-income people to purchase the policies offered.
With this, he said, congestions at government hospitals could be reduced because rahmah insurance policyholders could seek treatment at private health centres.
"I suggest we have a rahmah insurance scheme to help the people. This will allow them to purchase coverage at a reasonable price for different options.
"This effort can attract the interests of the T20 and M40 groups for family members or any company that wants to buy this policy for their employees," he told Sinar Harian.
He said this when asked about steps that could be taken to address the increasing number of patients in government hospitals after most high-income groups began switching to the public medical sector.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad previously said that the T20 and M40 groups are now increasingly seeking treatment at public hospitals due to rising costs of private treatment and increasingly burdensome insurance premiums.
According to Dzulkefly, although previously the middle and high income groups were more likely to seek treatment at private hospitals through insurance or self-payment, the trend is now changing as some of them choose public hospitals, especially in cases of emergency or follow-up treatment.
Meanwhile, when asked about the level of service at government hospitals, Tze Tzin admitted that he was dissatisfied, especially in terms of long waiting times and congestions.
However, he said, the problem needs time to be resolved considering the significant increase in the number of patients, especially for non-communicable diseases.
“If asked now, I am indeed not satisfied with the long waiting period, the severe level of congestions, but this problem cannot be resolved within one or two months.
“Now the government led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Minister of Health is focusing on upgrading the country's health system through large allocations in the national budget every year,” he said.
In June 2023, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs introduced the Rahmah Insurance and Takaful Package covering personal and property protection, especially for the B40 group, with monthly contributions as low as RM5 or RM36 per year. - September 11, 2025
