The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) has urged medical insurance policyholders to lodge a report with the association if they encounter any price hikes in their premiums. Additionally, they should contact their agents and make enquiries if the increases were made without prior notification.

“FOMCA has been recently receiving many complaints from medical insurance policyholders of indiscriminate increases in the price of their premiums. We are concerned of how extensive this issue is and how many consumers have been affected by the price increase,” said the president of FOMCA, Datuk Dr Marimuthu Nadason.

Marimuthu further added that the present is not the right time to increase insurance premiums as many consumers have been severely affected by the conditional lockdowns, either through loss of jobs or reduction in incomes. He also stressed that it is inappropriate for insurance companies to raise premiums to make excessive profit during a time of difficulty for consumers.

Even prior to this, Marimuthu has repeatedly voiced similar concerns. At the end of 2020, he had appealed to insurers to defer the price hikes to a later date, alongside other organisations such as the National Association of Malaysian Life Insurance and Family Takaful Advisors (Namlifa) and Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).

Marimuthu further said that FOMCA will launch a national campaign to urge Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to curb the increase in medical premiums if they receive many complaints regarding this issue. “As a responsible regulator, Bank Negara should have already pre-emptively directed insurance companies not to increase premiums at this point to protect consumers,” he said.

Individuals who wish to inform FOMCA about the price hike in their medical insurance premium will need to provide the name of the insurance company, current annual insurance premium, and new annual insurance premium in their report. The details can be emailed to [email protected], or submitted through an online form.

(Source: FOMCA, New Straits Times)

• TAGS:
• Bank Negara Malaysia
• BNM
• Datuk Marimuthu Nadason
• Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations
• FOMCA
• Insurance Premium Increase
• Insurance Premiums
• Malaysian Medical Association (MMA)
• Medical Insurance Premiums
• National Association of Malaysian Life Insurance and Family Takaful Advisors (Namlifa)