Health Cover

Hi, keen to engage with any Australians living in Malaysia as to how they have managed their health cover, if no longer an Australian resident. We're both in our mid 60s & starting to look at options before heading to Penang under MM2H in 2020. Also appreciate any general feedback that might assist us checking out what's available. Thanks, Kerry

I am not an Australian, but when I lived in Malaysia I used an insurance agent and the insurance companies changed every now and again. The last one I used was Pacific. A good insurance agent will also tell you where to get your 'quick' medical check up as well.

I had a couple of operations while living in KL, the first was knee surgery that cost MYR10k and I paid out of my own pocket because I wasn't under MM2H at the time and didn't have insurance, but later after getting MM2H I also had insurance with Pacific and had a slipped disc operation that cost about MYR20k and was settled by the insurance company at check out form the hospital. That included outpatient and physiotherapy too.

Thanks Shill88

Malaysian insurance policies look cheap, but you have to consider the yearly and lifetime limits on payouts - they are quite low and could be exceeded if some really major illness or accident befell you. That is why I went for an international insurer, Pacific Cross. I'm not sure if that is the same company that Shill88 used. With a few voluntary exclusions and a fairly large deductible, I got the overall premium down to near USD1,000 per annum for worldwide coverage excluding USA.

Yes they look cheap and some don't cover everything. $1000 a year is cheap. Even the best policy at Progressive is only $2k for family of 3. You have to remember everything is relative. All the procedure cost way less than is the USA some are 1/2 the cost to only 10% of the cost. So it's all relative.

No it wasn't Pacific Cross, can't remember as it was a few years ago, but the insurance agent would help me switch to whichever insurance company was best at the time. I think we paid around Rm4600 per year for a couple with two kids and I was in my mid to late fifties at that time. Also it included a private room when hospitalized.