Two controversial items put on hold in Hong Kong voluntary health insurance plan
Insurers will not have to cover high-risk patients or guarantee policies regardless of a person’s age or condition
Two controversial items will be dropped temporarily from the planned voluntary health insurance scheme after resistance from insurers, the health minister confirmed on Friday.
Insurers would not have to cover high-risk patients or guarantee to cover anyone regardless of age or illness.
But Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said the government would not “give up” on these two features and would carry on the legislation work in the next phase.
“We realised that guaranteed acceptance and the high-risk pool are the more difficult parts of the voluntary health insurance scheme,” Ko said.
The idea of the scheme is to reduce the burden on the public health care system by encouraging the middle class to switch to the private sector.