The Health Ministry, through its circular dated 20 July 2011, has directed all insurance companies providing the Foreign Workers Health Insurance (FWHI) Scheme to stop offering PA Policies together with the FWHI.
The Ministry warned that if the Insurance Companies continue with the sale of the PA, then they will not hesitate to cancel the status of Insurance Companies as the FWHI panelist.
First thing first, the Health Insurance scheme was not designed to incorporate PA coverage or compensation for injuries or disability or death. Instead it focuses on providing medical insurance for foreign workers due to sickness, disease or accidental injury at government hospitals.
The FWHI Scheme is available to foreign workers at RM136 a year (RM105 for premium, RM15 for administration fees, RM10 for stamp duty and RM6 for service charge)
As for the accident coverage, it is already being provided under the Foreign Workmen Compensation Scheme for any occupational related accident or disease hence the need to avoid the duplication of the PA coverage in the FWHI Scheme which may cause confusion amongst employers and employees as well as cause enforcement problem for agency involved in the implementation of the scheme.
