Materia Medica Malaysiana

Merged funds make aid more accessible

THE Health Ministry’s Special Chronic Diseases Fund has been merged with the National Health Welfare Fund to make it easier for the low-income group to get medical aid, Utusan Malaysia reported.

The Government decided to merge the two funds because those seeking aid were confused by the two funds, Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said.

“The applicants did not know which one to apply to,” he said.

The Chronic Diseases Fund is headed by the ministry’s secretary-general and the Welfare Fund by the minister.

Chua said that with only one fund to manage, the ministry hoped to assist eligible applicants by lessening red tape.

The report said the Cabinet also agreed to do away with several conditions on applying for aid, including one that specified that applicants should not have a household income of more than RM600 and that they had to match each ringgit provided by the fund.

Chua said there was a special RM100mil fund announced in last year’s Budget and RM2mil of it was allocated to the Chronic Diseases Fund.

“However, not a sen (of the Chronic Diseases Fund) was used since the application requirements were too tight,” said Chua, adding that the allocation was withdrawn at the end of the year and not carried forward to the following year.

“A new condition agreed upon by the Cabinet is that the grant (for chronic diseases) absorbed by the Welfare Fund be not withdrawn at the end of the year,” said Chua.

He added that the Cabinet was informed that 49 applications involving RM1.677mil were approved under the Welfare Fund in 18 months