KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Gasing assemblyman Rajiv Rishyakaran has called on the Ministry of Finance Malaysia and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to provide an immediate and transparent update on the rollout of the Malaysia Health Insurance and Takaful (MHIT) Base Plan.

Rishyakaran, who is also the founding chairman of Social Democracy Malaysia, said that while the government has spent the first quarter of 2026 promoting its “RESET” strategy and standardized premium framework, millions of Malaysians with chronic conditions remain uncertain about their access to coverage.

He highlighted long-standing concerns in the private insurance market, where individuals with conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease are often denied coverage or subjected to high premium loadings that make policies unaffordable.

Although the Ministry of Health Malaysia has indicated that MHIT will include coverage for pre-existing conditions, Rishyakaran noted that recent signals from BNM suggest eligibility may be limited to “stable” or “controlled” cases, creating what he described as a “dangerous grey area.”

He urged authorities to clarify several key issues, including the proportion of adults with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) who would qualify for the base plan, warning that excluding those with uncontrolled conditions could leave the most vulnerable segments of the M40 and B40 groups without support.

Rishyakaran also called for a clear cap on premium loadings, arguing that without limits, coverage could remain out of reach despite being technically available. Additionally, he pressed for a definitive timeline on when the public can begin purchasing the MHIT Base Plan, noting that a pilot programme had been expected in the second half of 2026.

He stressed that healthcare should be treated as a right rather than a privilege, cautioning that if insurers are allowed to prioritize healthier applicants, the reform risks becoming “a rebranding of the status quo.”

Rishyakaran further proposed a strict “no look-back” provision to ensure that pre-existing conditions do not become grounds for exclusion.

He also called on Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan and the governor of Bank Negara Malaysia to disclose data on how many Malaysians could be excluded under the current MHIT framework.

“The people of Bukit Gasing and Malaysians at large deserve a healthcare financing system that provides a real safety net, not another exclusionary financial product,” he said.