New category of EPF withdrawal for fertility treatment

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11  -- The Employer’s Provident Fund (EPF) will introduce a new category of withdrawal to allow couples to seek fertility treatment such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said income tax relief of up to RM6,000 given on expenses incurred for medical treatment of serious illness will be expanded to include expenses incurred on fertility treatment.

“Today, the fertility rate in Malaysia has fallen alarmingly from 4.9 children per woman in the 1970s to 1.9 children per woman, which is below replacement level,” he said when tabling Budget 2020  in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Budget 2020, themed “Driving Growth and Equitable Outcomes towards Shared Prosperity” is the Pakatan Harapan government’s second budget after taking over Putrajaya on May 2018.

Meanwhile, Lim said starting Jan 1, next year, MySalam which is a free takaful health protection scheme will be extended to cover 45 critical illnesses from the existing 36, including polio and terminal illness.

He said MySalam will also benefit individuals with gross annual income up to RM100,000 as they will receive critical illness payout of RM4,000 and RM50 daily hospitalisation income replacement for up to 14 days when diagnosed and warded at government hospitals.

It also extended to those aged up to 65 years old, compared to 55 years old, benefiting an additional 1.5 million individuals, said Lim.

On another matter, Lim said the government has also launched the Skim Peduli Kesihatan (PeKa B40) to provide screenings and early intervention for non-communicable diseases such as mental health and cancer for those aged between 50 and 60 years old.

So far, a total of 100,000 have benefited from this initiative and the government will expand its coverage to those aged 40 and above.

-- BERNAMA