How to Port Your Medical Card in Malaysia When Changing Jobs

When you leave your job in Malaysia, your company medical card stops covering you on your last working day. The good news is that you do not have to pass a fresh medical examination to keep continuous coverage: a regulated conversion window lets you move from a group plan to an individual plan without new underwriting, provided you act within the deadline.

This guide explains exactly how the conversion works, what it costs, and what your fallback options are if you miss the window.

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Why your group medical card is not portable on its own

A corporate or group medical card is a contract between your employer and the insurer or takaful operator. You are a beneficiary, not the policyholder. When employment ends, the master policy no longer lists you, and coverage ceases immediately. There is no automatic rollover.

This creates a real risk. If you develop a condition while uncovered, even for a short period, an insurer can classify it as a pre-existing condition when you later apply for a fresh individual plan. That condition may be excluded, loaded (charged a higher premium), or result in outright rejection.

The conversion window exists precisely to close that gap.

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The conversion window: how it works under BNM rules

Bank Negara Malaysia’s Policy Document on Medical and Health Insurance/Takaful (MHIT) Business, issued February 2024 and effective progressively through 2025, requires licensed insurers and takaful operators to offer a guaranteed conversion option from a group MHIT plan to an individual MHIT plan for departing employees. Key features:

• No new medical underwriting. The insurer cannot require you to fill in a fresh health declaration or sit a medical examination solely because you are converting, as long as you convert within the allowable window.
• Pre-existing conditions carried over. Conditions already covered (or excluded) under your group plan are treated the same way on the individual plan. The insurer cannot add new exclusions for conditions that arose while you were under the group plan.
• Continuity of waiting periods. Standard waiting periods (typically 30 days general, 120 days for specified illnesses) that you have already served under the group plan do not restart.

The 30-day conversion window

Most insurers and takaful operators set the no-underwriting conversion window at 30 days from your last day of group coverage. Some extend this to 60 days. Check your company’s Group Benefits Schedule or ask HR for the specific insurer’s terms, because this deadline is contractual, not standardised across all products.

Once the window closes, you can still apply for an individual plan, but the insurer may subject you to full underwriting, meaning conditions discovered since your group cover lapsed could be excluded.

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Step-by-step: how to convert your medical card

1. Get your group coverage details before you leave

Ask HR or your company’s insurance broker for:

• Name of insurer or takaful operator
• Group policy number
• Your certificate of insurance or membership card
• A letter confirming your last day of coverage and that you are eligible for individual conversion

This documentation is your proof of continuous coverage. Keep it.

2. Contact the insurer directly within 30 days

Do not wait. Call the insurer’s customer service or visit a branch and state clearly that you are exercising the group-to-individual conversion right. Bring:

• Your MyKad
• Proof of employment termination (resignation letter or HR letter)
• Group certificate of insurance
• Last day of coverage letter

3. Select a comparable individual plan

The insurer will offer you individual MHIT products at their current premium rates. You are not locked into the exact same plan design, but you are entitled to a plan with equivalent benefit levels. Common choices:

• Annual limit (e.g. RM100,000, RM200,000, RM500,000 per year)
• Room and board rate per night
• Panel or non-panel hospital access
• Rider add-ons (outpatient, dental, maternity)

4. Pay the first premium

Once you accept the offer and pay the first premium or contribution, your individual cover is active. Confirm the effective date in writing and that there is no gap between your group plan’s last day and your individual plan’s start date.

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What it costs: group versus individual premiums

The premium jump from group to individual is one of the biggest surprises for employees converting after a job change. Group plans benefit from pooled risk across an entire workforce; individual underwriting prices you alone.

Factor	Group Plan (employer)	Individual Plan (post-conversion)
Who pays	Employer (often fully or partly)	You
Premium basis	Pool rate for all staff	Your age, gender, health history
Annual limit	Typically RM50k to RM150k	Varies widely; RM100k upwards common
Underwriting at conversion	None (within window)	None (within window)
Premium increases over time	Employer absorbs or renegotiates	You absorb; BNM’s 2025 interim measures cap repricing impact
Waiting periods	Already served	Carried over if converted within window

As a rough illustration: a 35-year-old converting to an individual plan with a RM150,000 annual limit and a standard room could expect annual premiums in the range of RM2,500 to RM5,000 depending on the insurer, plan design, and whether a deductible applies. Premiums rise steeply with age, particularly past 50.

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BNM’s 2025 interim measures and how they affect you

Following sharp premium increases in 2024, Bank Negara Malaysia issued interim measures effective 1 January 2025 that:

• Stagger repricing over a minimum of three years (2024, 2025, 2026)
• Require that at least 80% of policyholders see annual premium increases below 10% per year
• Allow policyholders who lapsed or surrendered due to repricing between January 2024 and February 2025 to reinstate their policy without underwriting (available until 31 August 2025)

Additionally, the Base MHIT Plan, a standardised standalone medical plan with government-set pricing and mandatory portability between insurers, is being piloted in the second half of 2026, with a full rollout targeted for early 2027. Once live, this plan will give Malaysians a portable, standardised baseline they can carry across jobs and insurers with no underwriting on transfer.

For now, the conversion window under your group policy is the main protection available.

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What if you already have an individual medical card?

If you bought an individual plan while employed, that plan is yours and is completely unaffected by your job change. Group cover and individual cover can run concurrently; when the group plan ends, your individual plan continues without interruption.

In this case, you should:

• Review your individual plan’s annual limit. If your employer’s group plan supplemented a low-limit individual plan, consider upgrading the individual plan during the next renewal.
• Check for any coordination of benefits clauses that may have restricted claims to avoid double-payment from two insurers.

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What to do if you miss the conversion window

If you miss the 30-day (or 60-day) window, you are not without options, but your position is weaker:

1. Apply fresh with full underwriting. The insurer will assess your current health. Any conditions diagnosed since your group cover lapsed may be excluded.
2. Use PEKA B40 or MySalam. If you are in the B40 income bracket, PEKA B40 provides free health screenings and MySalam provides a hospitalisation payout of RM8,000 per year for eligible individuals. These are limited safety nets, not replacements for a medical card.
3. Government hospitals as a fallback. Government hospitals charge nominal fees (e.g. RM1 to RM5 per outpatient visit for citizens). While not a substitute for a medical card, they provide access to care during a gap.
4. Short-term travel or bridge plans. Some insurers offer 30 to 90 day bridge health plans. These are not full medical cards but can cover hospitalisation during a job transition.

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Key takeaways

• Your employer’s group medical card ends on your last day of employment.
• You have typically 30 days (sometimes 60 days) to convert to an individual plan with no new medical underwriting.
• Pre-existing conditions covered under the group plan carry over; insurers cannot add new exclusions for those conditions at conversion.
• Waiting periods you have already served do not restart.
• Individual premiums are higher than group plan rates because you bear the cost alone.
• BNM’s Base MHIT Plan (pilot 2H 2026, full rollout 2027) will introduce standardised portable medical coverage across Malaysia.
• If you already hold an individual medical card, it is unaffected by your job change.
• Missing the conversion window means fresh underwriting, which could exclude conditions that emerged during any coverage gap.

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Frequently asked questions

Do I need to do anything if I already have my own medical card separate from work?

No. Your individual plan is your own policy and continues regardless of your employment status. Just make sure premiums are paid. If you want, use the job transition as a prompt to review the plan’s annual limit and whether it still fits your needs.

Can the insurer reject my conversion application?

Within the conversion window, a licensed insurer cannot reject you on health grounds. However, they can decline if you miss the deadline, fail to provide required documents, or apply for a benefit level significantly higher than what your group plan provided (in which case the excess benefit portion may require underwriting).

What happens to claims I made under the group plan?

Claims history from the group plan is not automatically erased. Insurers may ask about previous claims. However, because you are converting without underwriting, those claims cannot be used to add new exclusions for conditions that were covered under the group plan.

Is there a government scheme to fill the gap while I am between jobs?

PEKA B40 provides health screenings for B40 households at no cost. MySalam pays a hospitalisation benefit of RM8,000 per year for eligible B40 individuals. Neither replaces a full medical card but both are worth activating if you qualify. See MySalam eligibility and claims for details.

How do takaful operators handle conversion differently from conventional insurers?

The BNM policy document covers both licensed insurers under the Financial Services Act 2013 and takaful operators under the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013. The no-underwriting conversion obligation applies equally. The main practical difference is that takaful contributions are structured as donations (tabarru’) rather than premiums, and surplus may be distributed. The conversion process and window are the same; ask your takaful operator for their specific product options.

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For more on navigating insurance and takaful in Malaysia, see Understanding Medical Card Riders vs Standalone Plans and Critical Illness Insurance: What Is Actually Covered.