Medical insurance in Malaysia under MM2H visa
 

Someone on BE asked me, a couple of days ago, about the general rules for medical insurance applicable under the MM2H visa, and I said I'd start up a thread on here.

Regrettably the government website MM2H.gov, which is the official word on the subject, seems to be going through some blips at the moment and I haven't been able to get on the site for a few days... and today... same same.

So... I've done a double check on the my2home site so that I don't start talking rubbish on here. I've got the MM2H visa but I don't bother keeping right bang up to date with all the info and rules as I don't need to see Immigration for another 8 years or so :thumbup: By the way, if you're seriously thinking about the MM2H visa, this site is a good one with loads of info from those who have done it and it's non-commercial. (Shameless plug, sorry Sue, don't sack me :o )

So... direct lift from the other place which in turn was lifted from the gov website I believe

"Approved participants and their dependants must possess valid medical insurance coverage that is applicable in Malaysia from any insurance company.
However, exemptions may be given for participants who face difficulty in obtaining a medical insurance due to their age or medical condition."

In other words, you get approval for the visa first which comes in the form of a Conditional Approval Letter. Then you have to meet the requirements laid out in that letter which includes (currently as at Oct 2011) the medical quotation above.

What I really love about this is the final line about exemption. I've looked at a few different country retirement schemes in the past and I've never seen it before... and it makes utter commonsense. Fact is that it's difficult to get medical insurance when you get older 60+ and fact is, if you're retiring or thinking about it, you're going to get old probably (at least that's what we all hope). So what's the point in getting a retirement visa then get kicked out, back to freezing cold ol' Blighty, in your twilight years? Yeh, right.

For those who want to get into the nuts and bolts of the different medical insurance policies available, there's another thread here on BE discussing various options.

A lot of the medical insurance companies have websites too and you can check on what options are available, what ages they insure to, etc.

If you cannot get medical insurance due to age or a previous or current medical condition, MM2H accepts a rejection letter from an insurance company in Malaysia. Some folks actually do this deliberately. IMHO you get what you pay for with insurance policies but all of them have their limits (condition limit, yearly limit, lifetime limit). It's usually down there in the smallprint. Always good to keep a pot of rainy day money aside for anything that might happen in the future I reckon.