KUCHING: The Ministry of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing will introduce health treatment assistance for Kenyalang Gold Card (KGC) holders in July this year.
Its minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said that the ministry is reviewing the services provided to cardholders which will include healthcare benefits.
“In July, we will introduce a new service which is health benefits. Initially, we will implement health benefits for the B40 group first. If the government deems it necessary, it may also include the M40 group in the future,” she said.
She said this while at a Teacher’s Day Hi-Tea programme with retired teachers at her residence, Jalan Sultan Tengah here on Thursday.
She also said that at the beginning of implementation, the new health services will have an annual coverage of RM500 for private clinic treatments
“And once the new service implemented, the death compassionate assistance (BIK) will be reduced from RM3,000 to RM1,800,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fatimah also said that the state government through her ministry will negotiate with Normah Medical Specialist Centre to increase the discount percentage for the KGC holders.
“Before COVID-19, they offered a 20 or 30 percent discount. But after COVID-19, they reduced the discount. Now we are trying to negotiate with Normah to increase the discount percentage again,” she said.
Fatimah said currently, there are a total of 286,399 KGC cardholders throughout the state.
“I believe today there are more than 100 of us (retired teachers) which will add to that statistic.
“We have 611 registered vendors cover the entire state. This means wherever you go, there will be some of our KGC vendors,” said Fatimah.
