THE bottom line is, if you are ill, you want someone else to pay. But comprehensive cover is not something that can be taken for granted even if coverage is by a company insurance scheme.
''This is a mistake I see made often in Hongkong,'' said Mr Keith Pearson, managing director of BUPA and former chairman of the Medical Insurance Association of Hongkong.
Misconceptions about coverage were problems which faced insurance companies, employers and employees, he said.
''In Britain, plans are made according to the maxim that they should be fit for the purpose for which they are intended - a fair test of the product.
''It's no good paying a few hundred dollars for benefits if the employer's intention is that their employee should have a private bed.'' Insurance schemes can give a false sense of security, where a ''benefit'' to the employee can become a liability. Many companies operate a credit card type system where patients sign a bill at the end of their stay. Depending on the arrangement the company has with the insurers, any amount outside the range insured could be billed back to the employee.
Slowly employers, employees, insurers and the medical profession are waking up to this cold comfort, according to Mr Pearson.