KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members below the age of 55 will be allowed to use their Sejahtera Account to pay MediAsas medical insurance premiums, while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 75 employees will receive subsidies to help cover premium costs.
Tabling Budget 2027 on Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will subsidise RM200 of the first-year premium per employee, capped at 50 employees per company, benefitting up to 200,000 workers.
MediAsas is scheduled to be launched in January 2027 as an affordable medical insurance plan, with hospital charges based on diagnosis and treatment categories to make costs more transparent, predictable and manageable.
The standalone medical plan is not linked to investment products and is renewable annually. It covers eligible pre-hospitalisation, hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation and outpatient treatments, with coverage available until the insured person reaches 85.
The plan offers two options — MediAsas Teras and MediAsas Fleksi — alongside their respective takaful alternatives, MediAsas Takaful Teras and MediAsas Takaful Fleksi.
MediAsas is part of the Reset Strategy, a national initiative involving the Health Ministry, Finance Ministry, Bank Negara Malaysia and other stakeholders to address medical inflation and strengthen Malaysia’s healthcare system.
Transparency in private healthcare costs to be enhanced
Separately, Anwar said the government would expand electronic medical records based on the “one individual, one record” principle.
Beginning in 2027, private hospital billing will adopt standardised and transparent fee categories to help patients better understand charges and reduce price distortions.
The government is also developing the e-CKAPS portal to enable fully online licensing for private healthcare facilities from 2027, with the aim of reducing processing times by up to 65%, he added.