KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) — A staggering 29.2% of Malaysians are suffering from mental illness, with statistics from the Ministry of Health indicating that the number of Malaysians suffering from mental health problems had a double-digit increase between 1996 and 2015 with 4.2million people diagnosed. AafiahCare, Etiqa’s first-in-Malaysia stand-alone Takaful Critical Illness plan, offers a comprehensive takaful critical illness plan that covers 68 critical illnesses, including one for mental illness. A key feature of this plan is that the mental illness coverage is deemed as an additional benefit that does not reduce the basic coverage amount.
Eligibility for coverage is straight-forward and easy. As long as the customer is accepted by Etiqa, he or she will be eligible for cover, subject to the normal underwriting process. The range of mental illness coverage is from RM7,500 up to a maximum of RM30,000 depending on the sum covered. Most beneficial to the participants is that Etiqa does not define how this amount is to be used, thus the participant may use it for consultation fees, medication, or hospitalization, as they see fit.