800,000 B40 Malaysians to get free health screenings

By DASHVEENJIT KAUR / Pic By ISMAIL CHE RUS

The government’s healthcare protection scheme, “Peduli Kesihatan” for the bottom 40% category (PeKa B40) is expected to benefit 800,000 Malaysians above the age of 50 beginning March this year.

The benefits of PeKa B40 include free health screenings, free medical equipment up to a maximum of RM20,000, payment of RM1,000 in stages when cancer treatment is completed at government hospitals and transport allowances of up to RM500 for Peninsular Malaysia, and RM1,000 for Sabah and Sarawak.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said PeKa B40 will be implemented in stages starting March, with a RM100 million initial allocation.

Dr Dzulkefly said the scheme will focus on health screenings for the recipients of Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) aged 50 and above, as well as their spouses.

“Recipients of BSH aged 50 and above, and their spouses will be automatically eligible to participate in the scheme with no required registration,” Dr Dzulkefly said in a statement yesterday.

“It is free for all eligible recipients and the scheme will be expanded in stages thereafter,” he added.

“Those interested in PeKa B40, health screenings can be done beginning March 2019 onwards.

“The clinics involved will not be subjected to registration fees or fee sharing, and clinics that are interested to partake in this can register at the PeKa B40 website in the near future,” he said.

The scheme is managed by the government corporation ProtectHealth Corp Sdn Bhd, a non-profit company set up under Ministry of Health (MoH).

“It is 100%-owned by the government with the intention of improving healthcare services access for Malaysians.

“PeKa B40 will not affect the existing healthcare services provided by MoH through clinics and hospitals for non-recipients of PeKa B40,” Dr Dzulkefly said, adding that the payments of RM1 for outpatients and RM5 for expert clinics remain.

Both mySalam schemes under the MoF and PeKa B40 under MoH are set up to complement each other.

“In terms of targeted ages, mySalam is offered to recipients of BHS aged between 18 and 55 years,” Dr Dzulkefly added.