Don't run down MySalam out of arrogance, Pua tells Wee

• Updated with Wee Ka Siong's reply
  

Tony Pua, political secretary to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, has criticised MCA president Wee Ka Siong for declaring the MySalam scheme, which provides free health insurance to the B40 and M40 segments, as a failure.

Pua said Wee would do better to use his social media accounts to share "accurate" information about the MySalam initiative so more Malaysians would make use of its benefits.

"Don't make false statements that confuse people who need assistance out of the arrogance of not wanting to acknowledge the good that the Pakatan Harapan government has done," Pua said in a statement today.

Wee, in a Facebook post, had highlighted MySalam cases where he said applicants faced difficulties in filing their claims besides being charged for the medical report needed to make the claim.

He had also questioned the low total claims amount of RM13.7 million in 2019 even though the fund size was RM2 billion and questioned who was profiting from this.

In reply, Pua said the problems faced in the early stages of MySalam's implementation had already been addressed.

He said in the cases of two applicants who had trouble securing claims, one was due to incomplete documentation while another was that the applicant had already received the maximum amount of RM700 a year for hospitalisation allowance.

As for the medical report, Pua said the Health Ministry had already issued two circulars to all hospitals and health facilities informing them not to charge for a medical report if the intended use is to file for a MySalam claim.

Under the MySalam scheme, a B40 applicant will receive a one-off RM8,000 payment upon being diagnosed with any one of 45 critical illness on top of an RM50 per day hospitalisation allowance of up to RM700 a year at government, military or university hospitals.

M40 recipients - those who do not qualify for Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) scheme but make under RM100,000 a year, will qualify for a one-off RM4,000 payment upon being diagnosed with any one of the 45 critical illness. The hospitalisation allowance benefit remains the same and is capped at RM700 a year.

Only critical illnesses diagnosed after 2019 qualify for the MySalam scheme.

Pua also said that the government has repeatedly explained that the RM2 billion premium paid by the government for MySalam, which was funded by the Great Eastern life insurance company, will be rolled forward until all of it has been exhausted for insurance claims.

As such, he reiterated that no one will profit from the RM2 billion that will be used for the claims.

The MySalam health insurance scheme was originally introduced for the B40 community but amidst the low number of claims, it was expanded to cover the M40 group beginning this year.

Wee, in his Facebook post, had also zoomed in on the definition of one of the critical illness, namely "paralysis of limbs" which is defined as "Total, permanent and irreversible loss of use of both arms or both legs, or of one arm and one leg, through paralysis caused by illness or injury".

He questioned if a patient who has lost one arm should break the other in order to qualify.

The list of the 45 critical illness covered, including cancer, severe dementia, permanent deafness and kidney failure, can be found here.

Pua said the intent of MySalam was to assist people who faced a critical illness and who lost their income during their hospitalisation period. He questioned if Wee understood this, pointing out that BN had never introduced such an initiative when it was the government.

The Pakatan Harapan government had last year also issued an FAQ to address various criticisms about the scheme.

MySalam's RM2 billion was obtained from Great Eastern after the government demanded the amount as an alternative to the insurance company divesting a 30 percent stake in its company as part of Bank Negara's rules.

In an immediate response, Wee (above) said he had never questioned the expansion of the scheme to include those who belong to the M40 group.

"What I said was clear - resolve the current problems involving B40 claimants first before expanding it to others," wrote Wee on his Facebook page.

Wee also dismissed Pua's claim that hospitals are not supposed to charge RM40 for a medical report.

Wee, who is the Ayer Hitam MP, said Pua and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng should visit his service centre and meet people who are complaining about the fee.

Meanwhile, Wee repeated his claim that only 3.4 percent of the RM400 million allocated for 2019 under the scheme was claimed.

"What's the point of keeping such a large balance when the public is suffering from bureaucracy preventing them from making a claim?" asked Wee.