SCHB aid available at Sibu parliamentary mobile counter at Sg Sadit tomorrow (May 7)
Irene Wong
SIBU (May 6): The Sibu Parliamentary Service Centre is opening a mobile service counter at Gathering Luck Restaurant in Sungai Sadit, West Bank here tomorrow (May 7), from 9am to 11.30am.
According to Sibu MP Oscar Ling's special assistant Irene Wong, the initiative aims to assist the public in applying for the Sarawak Senior Health Benefits (SCHB) scheme.
'The mobile counter service aims to reach out and offer beneficial services to the public,' she said in a statement.
Wong added that the outdoor service counters had consistently received positive responses from the public.
To expedite the application process, she advised applicants to bring a photocopy of their MyKad.
'Please note that the SCBH is only open to Malaysian senior citizens aged 60 and above.
'The MyKad must carry the letter 'K' indicating Sarawak citizenship, and the applicant's a monthly household income must be less than RM7,000,' she listed out.
Wong described the SCHB as a welfare programme exclusively for senior citizens.
'The beneficiaries will each receive RM500 annually for medical assistance at private clinics for treatment of common ailments such as cold, fever, headaches, diarrhoea, vomiting sprains and minor injuries.
'Cherish this opportunity and make good use of this government-provided healthcare assistance.
'Approved applicants can also use the benefit for dental services like filings, extractions and dentures,' she added.
For enquiries, call the Sibu service centre on 084-322 001 or 017-833 1085. Irene Wong mobile service counter Sibu Parliamentary Service Centre
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysiakini
4 hours ago
- Malaysiakini
Of Malaysian healthcare and its financing
LETTER | On May 29, a gathering of 200-plus filled the venue for a public forum on medical inflation and its contributory causes, organised by medical and health sciences students at Universiti Malaya. An earlier forum in April 2025 had focused on stakeholders' firefighting priorities in the immediate aftermath of steep hikes in health insurance premiums. The recent follow-up forum was an opportunity to address more systemic aspects of Malaysian healthcare and its financing. The keynote address by Dr Aneil Moorthy, in my interpretation (and rearrangement) of its component parts, was a way of answering the question: Why do we need private health insurance? The answer I arrived at was chronic underfunding of public sector healthcare, which has obliged many Malaysians to prepare for contingencies if faced with congested public hospitals and long queues and delays when seeking urgently needed inpatient care. For those without deep pockets, such contingency plans invariably look to commercial hospitals and the requisite insurance coverage for critical care if and when its need arises. That, sadly, is the backdrop to the recent public uproar over premium hikes for hospitalisation insurance, if one is unfortunate enough to get entangled in a tug-of-war between profit-driven overtreatment ('the vendor tells the buyer what the buyer must buy') and profit-driven insurers' denial of coverage and treatment ('the high-risk cases who are most likely to need healthcare, will be the individuals least likely to get coverage or treatment when they need it'). It's not me, look over there Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia's president Dr Kuljit Singh unfortunately declined an invitation as a much-needed panellist, but he was present nonetheless for a watching brief on behalf of APHM's member hospitals. His occasional protagonist, Life Insurance Association of Malaysia CEO Mark O'Dell, deftly explained why insurers were not the sole culprits deserving of brickbats and deflected blame from irate policyholders (and hospitals), for the steep hikes (40 percent-70 percent) in health insurance premiums for 2025. Despite five and a half hours of animated exchanges (yes, audience engagement was that sustained), time did not allow for me to ask O'Dell a second question from the floor: Should profit-driven risk-rated healthcare insurers have any role in healthcare financing? Should Bank Negara Malaysia, as the insurance regulator, allow only uniform, community-rated health insurance which was non-discriminatory of risk sub-groups? (In effect, mandate cross-subsidies as an unavoidable feature of risk pooling and sustainable risk management in health insurance) A primary care detour Malaysian Medical Association president-elect Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo rightly emphasised the key role of primary care in a comprehensive national response to our ongoing epidemics of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). With the added involvement of other health-related personnel and civil society organisations, it could contribute importantly towards cost control by pre-emptively reducing the need for expensive referrals for higher levels of care and inpatient services. Notably, he did not dwell at length on GPs' discontent over medicines price labelling and its underlying complications of stagnant GP consultation fees, (compensating) increased & opaque mark-ups on dispensed medicines, patients upset with prescribing fee on top of consultation fee, pharmacists wanting dispensing fee too, etc (sympathies for Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad. I wonder if a meaningful solution for these problems is possible without considering [flexible] separation of prescribing and dispensing). Healthcare cost ≠ medical bills Just as the primary care response to NCDs entails promotive, preventive (and in the near future, predictive?) care as well (i.e. much more than just prescriptions and medications), academic Nirmala Bhoo Pathy made an important point, from a patient perspective, that health-seeking costs do not equate to medical bills. She eloquently pointed out that a more meaningful listing would include 'health-related costs beyond medical bills: transport, lost income, special diets, caregiving… real cost protection requires cross-sector solutions across social welfare, transport, labour, local governments, and NGOs'. Sourcing for increased Health Ministry allocations Did special guest Khairy Jamaluddin signal that 'KJ akan kembali, selepas Keluar Sekejap?' (KJ will be back after Keluar Sekejap?) Khairy was the first health minister who publicly acknowledged, during his short tenure, that the Health Ministry was chronically underfunded and that he would seek a doubling of federal allocations to five percent of GDP within five years. In his closing remarks at the Health Policy Summit 2022: Future of Our Healthcare - Health White Paper Development, he candidly remarked that he had pointedly avoided the 'i' word (insurance) in the preceding two days because he didn't want to get embroiled in a discussion on Social Health Insurance. Unfortunately, he left the forum early, and I missed a chance to ask if he still favoured SHI labour taxes as a principal source for doubling the ministry's allocations, despite extensive, consistent evidence (Yazbeck et al, 2020; Wagstaff, 2009) that tax-funded healthcare systems outperformed SHI-funded healthcare systems. During his articulate presentation, Khairy did concede, as did former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye, that the most urgent task was to upgrade, reinforce, and reform an adequately funded public healthcare delivery system before asking the public to consider supplementary taxes for further system improvements, or increased patient co-payments at point of service. Lee further remarked that RakanKKM was, in his opinion, a band-aid stopgap that was unlikely to significantly improve affordable access, perhaps could even degrade the quality of care for regular patients. By way of concluding, kudos are due for the excellent organising abilities and attention to detail of the UM students who convened this event. It is indeed encouraging that medical and biomedical undergraduates are going beyond their usual preoccupations with clinical and laboratory skills to engage with urgent health system and health policy priorities on the national agenda. CHAN CHEE KHOON is the coordinator of Citizens' Health Initiative. The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
CBP, PERKESO partner to protect housewives socially
KUALA LUMPUR: Co-opbank Pertama (CBP) is reaffirming its commitment to enhancing the socio-economic well-being of the people by expanding access to inclusive social protection that meets current needs. In line with this vision, CBP chief executive officer Khairil Anuar Mohammad Anuar said CBP has entered into a strategic collaboration with the Social Security Organisation (PERKESO), as an official promotional partner, to promote the Housewives' Social Security Scheme (SKSSR) across all CBP branches nationwide. He said the partnership, which began in February, aims to widen the coverage of social security protection for housewives, particularly among CBP's female clients. 'The SKSSR was introduced under the Housewives' Social Security Act 2022 to provide coverage for housewives who suffer injuries, illnesses, or disabilities while managing household responsibilities,' he said in a statement today. The scheme is open to Malaysian citizens or permanent residents aged 55 and below, with benefits that include medical care, permanent disability compensation, invalidity allowance, and access to physical rehabilitation or dialysis treatment. 'With an annual contribution of only RM120, coverage can be paid in advance by the housewife herself, her husband, family members, or any third party,' Khairil Anuar added. He said as an official promotional partner, CBP will facilitate awareness and registration for SKSSR through its nationwide branch network, in addition to launching ongoing promotional campaigns across various social media platforms. 'This collaboration will be implemented through our nationwide branches, which will serve as information and support centres for customers seeking details about the scheme,' he said. Khairil Anuar added that CBP also plans to run sustained promotional efforts on social media to ensure the importance of social protection for housewives reaches a broad and diverse audience effectively.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
CBP partners with PERKESO to extend social protection to housewives
KUALA LUMPUR: Co-opbank Pertama (CBP) is reaffirming its commitment to enhancing the socio-economic well-being of the people by expanding access to inclusive social protection that meets current needs. In line with this vision, CBP chief executive officer Khairil Anuar Mohammad Anuar said CBP has entered into a strategic collaboration with the Social Security Organisation (PERKESO), as an official promotional partner, to promote the Housewives' Social Security Scheme (SKSSR) across all CBP branches nationwide. He said the partnership, which began in February, aims to widen the coverage of social security protection for housewives, particularly among CBP's female clients. 'The SKSSR was introduced under the Housewives' Social Security Act 2022 to provide coverage for housewives who suffer injuries, illnesses, or disabilities while managing household responsibilities,' he said in a statement today. The scheme is open to Malaysian citizens or permanent residents aged 55 and below, with benefits that include medical care, permanent disability compensation, invalidity allowance, and access to physical rehabilitation or dialysis treatment. 'With an annual contribution of only RM120, coverage can be paid in advance by the housewife herself, her husband, family members, or any third party,' Khairil Anuar added. He said as an official promotional partner, CBP will facilitate awareness and registration for SKSSR through its nationwide branch network, in addition to launching ongoing promotional campaigns across various social media platforms. 'This collaboration will be implemented through our nationwide branches, which will serve as information and support centres for customers seeking details about the scheme,' he said. Khairil Anuar added that CBP also plans to run sustained promotional efforts on social media to ensure the importance of social protection for housewives reaches a broad and diverse audience effectively.
