By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 9: The Federal government will introduce the MediAsas medical plan in January 2027, offering affordable healthcare coverage and a first-year premium subsidy of RM200 per employee for eligible small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced this when tabling Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Under the initiative, hospital payments will be based on the diagnosis and treatment received, allowing medical costs to be better controlled and made more predictable.
“For SMEs with fewer than 75 employees, the government will subsidise the first-year premium by RM200 for each employee, limited to 50 employees per company. This is expected to benefit up to 200,000 workers.”
Anwar said Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members below the age of 55 would also be allowed to pay their MediAsas premiums using savings from Akaun Sejahtera.
Meanwhile, the government is expanding financial assistance and healthcare access for lower-income groups through several existing programmes.
The Medical Assistance Fund allocation has been increased to RM60 million from RM40 million previously to help low-income Malaysians access medical treatment.
Recipients of Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and their spouses aged 40 and above would also continue to benefit from free health screenings, medical equipment assistance and cancer treatment incentives under the PeKa B40 programme, which has been allocated RM80 million.
The MySalam scheme, which has benefited 1.6 million people with total claims amounting to RM1.3 billion since its introduction, will also continue in 2027.
In addition, the Fertility Treatment Assistance and Infertility Advocacy Programme (BuAI) would provide affordable fertility treatment to 2,000 couples and men’s wellness services to 42,000 individuals.
Free thalassemia screenings are also expected to be extended to the husbands and children of thalassemia carriers to reduce the risk of births involving thalassemia major.
On improving transparency in private healthcare, Anwar said electronic medical records would be expanded based on the principle of “one individual, one record”.
Starting in 2027, private hospital bills will also adopt standardised and transparent charge categories to help patients better understand their medical expenses and reduce price distortions.
The government is also developing the e-CKAPS portal to enable private healthcare facilities to complete their licensing processes entirely online from 2027, with processing times targeted to be reduced by up to 65 per cent. – DayakDaily
