AIA Malaysia, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based life insurance group AIA Company, has enhanced its A-Plus Health medical plan to include insurance benefits for mental health.
Image: AIA Malaysia adds mental health coverage. Photo: Courtesy of everydayplus/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
AIA Malaysia quoted the Malaysian Ministry of Health’s (MOH) National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015, as per which, 4.2 million country’s citizens suffer from mental health issues. The statistics revealed that there is a two-fold increase in prevalence over the last decade with numbers increasing from 10.7% in 1996 to 29.2% in 2015.
Launched last year, the A-Plus Health is a medical rider that can be attached to AIA’s regular premium investment-linked plan, A-LifeLink 2 as well as A-Life Joy 2.
The rider comes with Health Wallet, claimed to be a first in the market, under which, for every year that a customer does not claim from A-Plus Health, an amount will be credit to his/her Health Wallet, up to 10 times.
At present, a customer can use the accumulated amount in the Health Wallet for preventive care services and additional medical expenses that are typically not covered by most medical plans such as health screening and vaccinations, artificial limb and hearing aid expenses, coverage for congenital conditions and recovery care for cancer, stroke and heart attack.
AIA Malaysia said that new and existing customers of A-Plus Health can avail the benefit without any increase in premiums or insurance charges and will be able to claim up to MYR1,500 per year (£288.7) per year in psychiatric consultation fees when visiting any private or government hospitals.
The enhanced plan will cover mental health conditions: Major Depressive Disorders, Post-Partum Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Tourette Syndrome.
AIA Malaysia chief marketing officer Zee Wang said: “Mental health continues to remain a challenge for both the public and health industry due to the lack of data and understanding. While there is definitely more work to be done – AIA is happy to do whatever we can at this point to move the needle forward.
“One of the first steps we thought to address was seeking treatment, often one of the first barriers in the journey to mental health recovery. With this new feature, AIA hopes to enable more Malaysians to take that first step to seek professional help.”