2010/07/27

A TOTAL of RM500.8 million has been withdrawn from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) under the fund's health withdrawal scheme.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said since the scheme was introduced in 1994, 93,914 members have withdrawn from their Account 2 for the scheme.

In a written reply to Senator Zamri Yusof, Najib said that 71 per cent of them who withdrew were those with a monthly income of less than RM2,500, while 17 per cent comprised of those in the RM2,500 to RM4,999 income bracket.

"The EPF health withdrawal scheme is aimed at allowing members to withdraw money from their Account 2 to pay for the medical cost of critical illnesses suffered by themselves or dependents who are approved by EPF.

"Effective June 15 this year, the list of critical illnesses for the health withdrawal scheme has been expanded to cover 39 illnesses compared with 13 previously,"

Among the critical illnesses covered are blindness, Parkinson's disease, leukaemia, total permanent disability and intellectual impairment due to accident or sickness.

Source: EPF gave out RM501m under health scheme http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/14hre/Article#ixzz0usHIkop8