MSIG Malaysia

When you have worked hard to achieve a comfortable lifestyle, it can be devastating to have everything taken away by critical illness or a serious accident. With early treatment and modern medicines, you can survive critical illness. However, the cost of surviving can be higher than sudden death because treatment, hospitalisation and professional care are expensive. This is where MSIG can help you. MSIG’s Ladies Lifestyle Protection is an insurance plan exclusively for ladies and offers peace of mind by providing protection for health conditions of particular concern to the fairer gender.

At 36, Minnie is happily married with 2 kids. Few years ago, she was diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer. She underwent a mastectomy as recommended by her doctor and went through the cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions. She has been cancer-free so far.

I enjoy my life even more now and this is what I’ve learned – never neglect your health, plan your finances ahead of time, illness does not affect the patient alone, but it affects the entire family, survival rate is high and cost of surviving is equally high and it’s not just about surviving, it’s about the ability to ensure the family’s lifestyle continues as well.

Minnie

“Not only do we need to worry about the financial responsibilities but it is important to us that our kid’s lifestyle are not too drastically affected. So yes, I am glad my husband purchased MSIG’s Ladies Critical Illness policy when it was recommended by his insurance advisor. The extra RM100,000* came in handy to complement our medical and other insurance plans and as well provide for the loss of income and extra home help we needed most. There are also medical aids we bought. It also helped us to have a short family holiday, which we really needed with the kids.”– Minnie

Critical points to consider:

  • Do you think you will survive more than 14 days if you’re an unfortunate victim of a critical illness?
  • Do you have RM100,000 cash ready as emergency funds?
  • If yes, how long did it take you to save that RM100,000?
  • If you need emergency funds, where would it come from?

*For Minnie’s case her annual premium was RM593 for a RM100,000 cover.
The insurance premium qualifies for Medical Insurance Tax Relief.

Dear Valued Customers,

Please be informed that an 8% Service Tax will be applied for all taxable general insurance policies where the insurance period commences on or after 1 March 2024 or where the insurance period spans across 1 March 2024 (calculated on a pro-rated basis).

MSIG reserves the right to collect any undercharged service tax for policies processed before 1 March 2024 where the insurance period spans across 1 March 2024. 

You are obligated to pay any applicable taxes including but not limited to service tax and stamp duty that are imposed by the Malaysian tax authorities in relation to your Policy. 

We are in the midst of updating our brochure and product materials to reflect the Service Tax. The materials will be ready in due course.

If you have any queries, please contact our Customer Service Hotline: 1-800-88-MSIG (6744).

Average medical cost in Malaysia has been increasing yearly. Protect yourself against rising medical costs by reviewing your existing medical and health cover by reading and understanding the Frequently Asked Questions below. Recover with a peace of mind, knowing your medical protection is in place.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. Why is my medical insurance premium being revised?

There are several factors that may contribute to higher medical insurance premiums.

            a. The rising cost of medical treatment or “medical inflation”

Medical procedures, hospital equipment and pharmaceuticals are improving to treat serious illnesses more effectively but all these improvements come at increased costs. Medical inflation refers to the increase in the average cost for treatment of illnesses.

            b. Current trends lead to greater needs

A rise in chronic, lifestyle illnesses like diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity requires regular and long-term treatment for a growing percentage of the population. This and a weak currency environment in our country makes the importing of hospital equipment, supplies and medicine to result in higher medical costs.

             c. Ageing population

As we get older, the likelihood of falling ill or getting injured will also increase which will mean more medical insurance claims. With more medical insurance claims, insurance premiums will increase to ensure that we can provide protection for as many people as we can.

  1. What is the average medical cost inflation per year in Malaysia?

In Malaysia, it currently stands at an average of 9% to 13%* every year. 

*Source: Willis Tower Watson 2021 Global Medical Trends Survey Report

  1. How frequently will my medical insurance premiums be revised?

Our medical insurance premiums are regularly reviewed based on data, statistics and current events such as medical inflation. 

  1. What actions are you taking to keep medical insurance affordable?

The insurance industry has formed a joint task force to have on-going discussions and engagements with healthcare providers to examine rising medical costs and how all parties can work together to keep medical costs reasonable and affordable.

You can do your part by avoiding unnecessary medical insurance claims by:

a. understanding the necessity of recommended procedures and tests and availability of alternative treatments and procedures. Consult your doctor if the recommended procedure can be done as an outpatient or day surgery, meaning that hospitalisation is not required.

b. checking and comparing medical costs across our hospital network.

c. requesting for itemised bills from the hospital to verify that the billing is correct.

By doing so, you may preserve your annual/lifetime limits and help yourself and us to keep medical insurance claims low.

  1. Why are my medical insurance premium rates increasing when I have not made any medical insurance claims?

Insurance is based on the concept of sharing risks by pooling funds to help those who are in need. The funds from the pool are used to pay for medical costs incurred by contributors of the pool. When the number of insurance claims increases, the pool will not have enough to support the rest of the contributors as time goes on, which means that insurance premiums will need to be increased to maintain support for contributors.

  1. How can I make sure that my medical insurance premiums do not exceed my budget?

There are a number of options that you can consider to take control of your medical insurance premiums.

a. Review your benefit limits. The higher the benefit limits, the more medical insurance premiums you must pay. Higher benefit limits encourage higher utilisation resulting in higher medical claims.

b. Where available, consider a reimbursement plan where you pay the medical expenses incurred upfront and seek reimbursement from us later. This option will result in a premium reduction.

c. Where available, choose a plan with a deductible where you will share a certain amount of the hospitalisation expenses. For example, if you can afford a deductible of RM1,000, in a medical insurance claim of RM10,000, you will bear RM1,000 and we will pay RM9,000. Choosing a plan with a deductible will result in a premium reduction.

d. Where available, choose a plan with co–payment. This is where you pay a portion of the claimable hospitalisation expenses amount. Co-payment is usually expressed as a percentage, for example a 5% co-payment in a medical insurance claim of RM10,000 means you will pay RM500 as a share of the final amount, while we pay the remaining RM9,500.   

e. Some plans offer a combination of the above. For example, in a plan that you have agreed to both deductible and co-payment, you will need to pay RM1,000 deductible and RM450 (5% co-payment) after a deductible for a medical insurance claim of RM10,000.  

  1. What would happen if I decided to cancel my existing medical insurance plan with MSIG?

If you cancel your existing medical insurance plan with us, you will lose the continuity of your medical insurance coverage. You can choose to purchase from another insurance company but you may be imposed with new policy terms and conditions, such as completing a 30-day waiting period, additional waiting period for specified illnesses and/or any other conditions imposed by the new insurance company.

  1. When will the medical insurance premium increase take place and how would I know if my policy is impacted?

We will inform you by mail, email or SMS when the increase takes place at least 30 days before your policy expiry and advise you of the options available.

 

Customer Service Hotline

Our dedicated Customer Service Officers and staff will be happy to assist with your queries.