KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 9,151,849 recipients of the Rahmah Cash Contribution (STR) are eligible to receive benefits under the B40 National Protection Scheme (mySalam) based on the current eligibility criteria this year.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said that since the beginning of the implementation of mySalam in 2019 until 31 Dec 2025, a total of 1,880,069 people have received benefits with total claims paid amounting to RM1,423,893,319.
“The fund balance of RM490.9 million as of 31 Dec 2025 shows that this scheme is still able to continue to benefit the target group.”
“Therefore, mySalam can be considered effective in easing the financial burden of the B40 group who are affected by health problems,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was answering a question from Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) who wanted to know the level of effectiveness of the mySalam scheme in helping the B40 group obtain health protection, especially for critical illnesses and hospitalization costs.
Amir Hamzah said the mySalam Scheme has proven to be effective in helping the B40 group obtain health protection, especially for critical illnesses and hospitalisation costs, and the rate of use of the scheme has also shown an encouraging trend.
He said nearly 300,000 people had received benefits with total claims of RM276 million last year, up from 190,725 recipients in 2024.
“As of May 2026, an estimated 123,000 recipients have received benefits, involving payments of RM108 million. This performance shows that the mySalam scheme continues to be actively utilized by the target group,” he said.
Meanwhile, answering a supplementary question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) on whether the government would extend the scheme, Amir Hamzah said the matter was being looked into as the mySalam fund balance still stood at around RM290 million after usage as of the middle of this year.
“We will look to extend the mySalam scheme for next year. Of course, the government is always sensitive to the need to socially protect the affected groups and we will look at ways to improve it like we have done in previous times,” he said.
— BERNAMA
