January 17, 2021 11:24 PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Insurance and takaful companies said today they are working with the health ministry and Bank Negara Malaysia to explore ways to ease some of the expenses of Covid-19 patients who are treated in private hospitals.

In a joint statement, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia, General Insurance Association of Malaysia and Malaysian Takaful Association said pandemic-related risks are generally not covered under any insurance and takaful plans worldwide.

“The exclusion stems from the difficulty in pricing for coverage relating to an event like a pandemic that may occur once in a lifetime, having an incalculable impact and cost. Covid-19 is a pandemic; hence it is not insured or covered under medical and health insurance or takaful benefits,” they said.

However, most life insurers and takaful operators in Malaysia had provided supplementary benefits such as daily hospital income to be paid to the affected policy holders, the associations said.

They said they had put in place various relief measures to help policy holders cope with the financial impact of the pandemic.

The measures included the deferment of premiums, which have helped more than one million policy holders, whose premiums amounted to more than RM1.6 billion.

A RM8 million Covid-19 Testing Fund was set up in March 2020 to enable medical and health insurance policy holders, they said.

Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/01/17/insurance-companies-seeking-ways-to-ease-patients-expenses/