FEB 4 — As a working professional in my early 50s, with children in university and ageing parents to worry about, I can say this plainly: the rising cost of medical insurance has become one of the most stressful financial pressures on middle-class families. After education, healthcare is our other major priority.

Many of us are not asking for handouts. We work hard, pay our taxes, and try our best to plan responsibly. We purchase medical insurance and takaful because we want to protect our families and avoid placing unnecessary strain on the public healthcare system.

But when premiums continue to rise year after year, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify the cost, especially when households are already stretched by education expenses, daily living costs, and long-term financial commitments.

That is why I appreciate the government stepping in through the Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) reform. MHIT represents Malaysia’s effort to keep private medical coverage more affordable, transparent, and sustainable at a time when healthcare costs are rising faster than household incomes. It is being driven as a whole-of-government initiative involving the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, and Bank Negara Malaysia, and overseen by the Joint Ministerial Committee on Private Healthcare Costs, co-chaired by the Finance Minister II and the Health Minister.

The truth is, premiums do not rise in a vacuum.

Insurance costs increase because medical claims increase, and medical claims increase because private healthcare costs, especially hospital charges, continue to climb.

When families face sudden premium hikes, it often feels as though insurers are simply passing the burden back to policyholders without sufficient explanation or accountability.

This is where MHIT sends the right signal. It tells policyholders, especially middle-class families, that we are not being left to absorb the shock alone.

It also reinforces an important principle: medical insurance must remain something Malaysians can sustain over the long term, not something that becomes unaffordable precisely when we are older and more vulnerable.

Importantly, MHIT also opens the door to more practical options for policyholders. One example is the potential of allowing co-payment through EPF as an option.

Done carefully, this could provide working families with an additional buffer during major medical episodes, helping us remain covered without turning to debt or exhausting short-term cash flow.

It should not weaken retirement security. But as an optional tool with proper safeguards, it adds flexibility and reassurance for those navigating unpredictable healthcare costs. It provides options, and for that I appreciate the approach.

At the same time, everyone has a role to play. Insurers and takaful operators must be more accountable in how they structure products, communicate increases, and treat long-term policyholders.

Private hospitals must also be part of the solution. If hospital charges continue to rise unchecked and billing practices remain inconsistent, the entire system will keep pushing costs back onto ordinary families.

Malaysia’s public hospitals will always be the backbone of our healthcare system and must continue to be supported.

But if more middle-class Malaysians are forced to drop private insurance due to affordability issues, the pressure will inevitably shift back to the public sector, through longer queues, higher demand, and greater strain on limited resources.

MHIT may not solve everything overnight, but it is clearly a step in the right direction.

For families like mine, it offers something we have not felt in a while: reassurance that the government recognises the problem and is taking steps to protect hardworking Malaysians from being priced out of healthcare security.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.