Hong Kong voluntary health insurance scheme set to be watered down
The revised scheme will exclude high-risk people and those with a medical history; plans to legislate for the scheme are also likely to be shelved, meaning it will be implemented voluntarily with insurers
The city’s first government-subsidised voluntary health insurance scheme is being watered down, with health officials saying the first phase will not cover high-risk people or those with a medical history.
They may also shelve plans for legislation to back up the scheme, meaning that it would be implemented on a voluntary basis with insurers. A decision on legislation will be made in June.
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Critics lashed out at the government for backing down under pressure from the insurance sector and questioned whether the scheme could still serve its purpose of reducing the burden on the public health care system by encouraging the middle class to switch to the private sector.
Permanent Secretary for Food and Health Richard Yuen Ming-fai said the scheme’s first stage had to exclude high-risk groups as setting up a government-funded pool to bear their medical costs would require further discussion.
“We will first launch those items that are less controversial and which are agreed will improve existing medical insurance products,” Yuen told legislative councillors on Tuesday.
According to the original proposal, all health insurance policies would have to meet 12 minimum requirements – and they would either be implemented on a voluntary basis, “or as guidelines under the insurers’ regulator, the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance”.
But Yuen said yesterday that only 10 of the 12 items had been agreed with insurers – and they would be implemented on a voluntary basis. These items include guaranteed renewal, no “lifetime benefit limit”, inclusion of ambulatory procedures and compensation for the cost of diagnostic imaging tests.
The remaining two items – setting a premium cap for high-risk patients and allowing insurance policies to be portable – would only be done “in the next step after further studies”, Yuen said, without offering a timeline.
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He said concerns were expressed about whether coverage of pre-existing conditions would result in much higher claims payouts and a drastic increase in premiums, which may discourage young and healthy people from joining.
According to the original proposal, high-risk groups numbering around 70,000 people would be funded by the government through a special pool.
Insurance sector lawmaker Chan Kin-por said legislation had to be implemented eventually to create a publicly funded pool, but he was “pessimistic” about when it would happen.
A government source explained there were many unsolved problems in creating the pool, such as the cut-off age for the beneficiary, the amount of subsidy and how much of the medical cost such groups could bear alone.
Hong Kong Patients’ Voices chairman Alex Lam Chi-yau said under the revised scheme, high-risk people were likely to rely heavily on public hospitals.
