Hong Kong’s plan to steer 1.5 million people towards private health sector through Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme will be ‘challenging’
Excluding high-risk individuals and potentially high premiums work against goal of scheme to get more Hongkongers to use private hospitals, according to a Legco research paper
Under the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme, subscribers will receive a HK$8,000 (US$1,020) tax break as an incentive to join the scheme, which seeks to ease the burden on the city’s highly congested public health care system.
“There are concerns in the community whether the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme can achieve the stated objectives,” the paper states. “Two important product features namely ‘guaranteed acceptance’ under the high risk pool and ‘portable insurance policy’ are not included as minimum requirements of the scheme after the public consultation concluded.”
The paper criticises high administrative costs in the private sector, and states that people who already have private health insurance are hesitant to seek treatment at private hospitals because of restrictions in existing insurance plans and disputes over claims.
The plan would allow policyholders to use private medical services until they are 100 years old. The goal is to enrol 1.5 million people over the next three years.