KUALA LUMPUR – The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will continue its proceedings on the healthcare and insurance sectors, focusing on premium payments and private hospital charges, over three days beginning June 17.
PAC chair Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the hearings on the increase in health insurance premiums, private hospital charges and the impact on public healthcare under the Finance Ministry, Health Ministry and Bank Negara Malaysia, will involve five witnesses.
“The witnesses are Bank Negara Malaysia, the Health Ministry, insurance companies, a Third Party Administrator, the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM), and the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC),” she said in a statement today.
In February, PAC held two public hearings to gather public feedback on the healthcare and insurance sectors, amid growing concern over soaring costs.
The hearings – a first by the PAC – were held on February 14 at AC Marriott Hotel in Bukit Jambul, Penang, and on 21 February at the Parliament building.
In December last year, several quarters, including Members of Parliament, urged Bank Negara to investigate and review insurers that had issued notices of premium hikes ranging from 40% to 70% starting in 2025.
Among the most vocal was Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, who also called on the Health Ministry and Bank Negara to launch a joint task force to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia, the Malaysian Takaful Association and the General Insurance Association of Malaysia, in a joint statement, said the repricing of premiums was inevitable.
They said Malaysia’s insurance and takaful industry saw an unprecedented cumulative medical claims inflation of 56% between 2021 and 2023, driven by rising treatment costs and advances in medical technology.
However, its chief executive officer Mark O’Dell told Business Times that insurers had agreed to implement the repricing gradually in the future. – June 5, 2025