‘It’s excessive and not right’: Pakatan lawmaker calls on Bank Negara to probe planned insurance premium hike

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Sim Tze Tzin, Member of Parliament for Bayan Baru (PKR), today urged Bank Negara Malaysia to intervene and probe the planned increase of insurance premiums, calling it excessive and bordering exploitative.

The call comes after the media reported that premiums could go up between 40 and 70 per cent next year, citing notices purportedly sent by insurance providers to policyholders that cited rising cost of medical care in private hospitals is the primary reason.

Sim said he has received dozens of complaints about the notices himself.

“We found out that after news about the planned increase surfaced many policyholders have stopped subscribing,” the PKR lawmaker said at a press conference held in Parliament this evening.

“Now they’re forced to turn to public healthcare and this could add more weight to the burden already carried by government-funded hospitals and at the end of it all the bottom 40 per cent income earners (who rely on them) are the ones that will suffer,” he added.

Complaints of insurance companies raising premiums have persisted over the last few years as private healthcare providers began to raise their service prices, which they attributed to the pandemic-induced supply chain snarl that had pushed inflation to record highs.

Some policyholders claimed the spike in their premiums can go up to threefold, prompting many to consider exiting even if they worry that it could hinder access to quick treatment.

One of the key appeals of private clinics and hospitals is the shorter queues for treatment, as well as access to more specialists.

Sim argued BNM is legally obligated to probe both the spikes in insurance premiums and look into claims that private healthcare providers are jacking up prices of its services.

“Insurance premium spike is closely related to the rise in private healthcare prices. Therefore we urge BNM to study and probe the notice that was issued by insurance companies,” he said.

“BNM has the power to regulate decisions by insurance firms, and they shouldn’t just wash their hands off it by saying this is a business decision, or that this is a free market or a willing seller willing buyer thing. This isn’t right.”