This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 27, 2019

PUTRAJAYA: Have a heart for those who are poor and facing hardship, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng implored critics of the mySalam health protection scheme yesterday, as he called on them to look at the initiatives from a humanitarian viewpoint.

Do not just look at the issue in terms of “statistics and numbers”, Guan Eng said, but think of people who fall ill and the problems they face, and how the scheme can help them in such situations.

Guan Eng was responding to criticism that the RM2 billion contributed by Great Eastern Life as a start to fund the scheme would be better used to improve the public healthcare system, and that the one-off RM8,000 compensation the scheme offers for those who fall terminally ill may not be enough.

mySalam offers free takaful healthcare protection to the B40 or bottom 40% income group — a segment of Malaysians comprising up to 3.69 million individuals, according to the ministry of finance (MoF).

“Even if we provide RM80,000 [protection coverage], it will also not be enough because healthcare costs are so high. But the point is, we are trying to do what we can. Bear in mind that we are not charging them any premium — this is given for free,” he told reporters at the launch of an online portal for the scheme yesterday.

He also said beneficiaries of the mySalam scheme are not customers of insurance provider Great Eastern Takaful Bhd, but rather customers of the Malaysian government, in response to concerns that beneficiaries of mySalam will be tied to Great Eastern as customers after the five-year coverage period expires.

Guan Eng said the scheme is now offered by Great Eastern Takaful, hence all filing of claims will be administered by the takaful provider, while Bank Negara Malaysia will regulate and provide oversight of the coverage.

“Other takaful operators may be appointed to administer the scheme in the future,” he said, adding other insurance companies have expressed their interest to participate in the scheme, but did not elaborate.

On the issue of data privacy, Guan Eng assured that while Great Eastern will have access to the data and information of the beneficiaries, the access is subject to the Personal Data Protection Act, so the insurer cannot use the data for other purposes.

The web portal for the scheme — www.mysalam.com.my — was launched by both the MoF and the ministry of health for eligible Malaysians to register and make their claims online.

The scheme’s coverage began on Jan 1 and eligible beneficiaries can start making their claims from March 1.

According to the MoF, the RM8,000 payment for eligible recipients under the newly launched national protection scheme, which covers over 36 critical illnesses, is only one-off. There will also be an income replacement of up to RM700 per year or RM50 per day, for a maximum of 14 days.