KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 – In view of the spike in the COVID-19 cases in the country, the insurance and takaful industry has taken a proactive step by broadening the eligibility criteria of the COVID-19 Test Fund (CTF) to include all asymptomatic individual/group medical and health insurance/takaful policy/certificate (MHIT) holders in the country. Asymptomatic patients refer to individuals who may have been infected by the virus but do not have any symptoms of cough, sore throat, flu etc.
All individual/group MHIT policy/certificate holders who are asymptomatic are now eligible to claim from the CTF for the COVID-19 test performed at any authorized labs or medical facility registered with the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia.
Links to MOH’s authorized labs are as follows:
The CTF reimbursement is limited to one test per policy/certificate holder only and the reimbursement period is valid until 30 June 2021 or earlier, if the fund is fully utilized.
Under the newly expanded CTF eligibility, Persons Under Investigation (PUI) and any asymptomatic policy/certificate holder is entitled to claim as follows:
Speaking on the expansion of the eligibility criteria, President of Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM), Ms Loh Guat Lan said that by liberalizing the criteria, more asymptomatic individuals will come forward to do the test to help curb the spread of the virus.
“We believe this move would help to encourage more people who have no symptoms but may have reasons to go for the test. Hence, by curbing the spread of the virus, we also help to protect the vulnerable people and the elderly from being exposed to the asymptomatic patients. We are also subsidizing the COVID-19 test for all hospital admissions,” added Loh.
PIAM Chairman, Antony Lee said: “The move to expand the myCTF reimbursement comes at an opportune time as it will help the Rakyat defray testing costs. We urge policyholders to take advantage of this MyCTF expansion criteria as according to our Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, more than 70% of cases in Malaysia were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic (source : The Star, 9th July 2020).
“By early screening for detection and prevention, policyholders can help reduce the risk of disease spread. Other preventative measures, such as well ventilated outdoor vs indoor spaces, good hand hygiene and physical distancing will remain critical” added Lee.
“With this measure, it will give insurance policy holder and Takaful certificate holder to remain calm during this pandemic and prove that the industry is concerned with current situation by making it easier for people to go for the test and indirectly helping the Government to control the pandemic.” said Encik Muhammad Fikri Mohamad Rawi, Chairman of Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA).
Enclosed is the latest Frequently Asked Question on CTF
For further information on the CTF, kindly visit http://www.myctf.my/ or call MyCTF Hotline number at 15500 / 1-300-22-11-88.- BERNAMA