Your Guide to Health Insurance in Hong Kong

What is health insurance?

Also known as medical insurance, health insurance provides coverage for medical care if you get sick or hurt. An insurance policy typically covers things like visits to the doctor, surgery, hospital stays, medical treatment, prescription meds, and diagnostic tests and scans.

Many employers offer medical coverage as part of the employee benefits package to attract candidates. But some expats may find employee health benefits insufficient. Sometimes they don’t cover preexisting conditions, like asthma, eczema, or cancer, or they don’t offer coverage for spouses or children, or they don’t offer maternity coverage.

But don’t worry. Hong Kong’s private health insurance landscape is robust, so you have many options to choose from. A good place to start: looking at the differences between local and international health insurance plans.

Local vs. international health insurance

The first key difference between local and international health insurance is right there in the name: local insurance only covers you within Hong Kong, whereas international insurance covers you in multiple countries.

The second key difference is cost. Premiums for local health insurance policies are very budget-friendly – that is, if you are young, fit, and healthy. On the surface, these premiums might seem cheap, but dig a little deeper and you’ll discover that they usually have pretty strict limits on the benefits provided. This means they won’t fully cover you for big-ticket items like cancer treatment or surgery, leaving you to pay out of pocket. What’s more, because local health insurance premiums are based on your insurance claims history, they can become more and more expensive as you get older, especially if you get sick and need to make big claims. 

International health insurance premiums, on the other hand, are pricier. But, as they say, you get what you pay for! That’s because international plans cover you in many countries, and they’re much more generous than local plans in terms of the extent to which they will cover treatments. So, whereas with a local plan you might need to pay by yourself for part of the cost of a pricy surgery or treatment, an international plan would cover you fully (up to the annual limit) – and take care of all the hospital paperwork for you. They also give you the luxury of choice: you can choose your healthcare providers – and even seek care in different countries – without needing to worry so much about the number on the price tag.

The best health insurance in Hong Kong

Here are some of the best health insurance plans on the market.

April MyHealth

April’s MyHealth plan is a “modular” international health insurance plan, letting you mix and match the benefits you want to include in your policy, like outpatient, maternity, and dental/optical benefits. Within their medical network in Asia, you can enjoy cashless service – no need to pay upfront and file for reimbursement later. But if you do need to file a claim, April’s Easy Claim mobile app makes it a breeze. Best of all, when you move countries, you can take your April MyHealth policy with you!

Bupa Hero (VHIS)

Bupa Hero from Bupa is a tax-deductible VHIS plan with deductible options to help you lower your premiums, making it a nice option if you’re watching your budget. With 24-hour mental health and health coaching service hotlines, Bupa is all about making healthcare services available at your fingertips. They’ll also let you add on a supplementary critical illness benefit, which would pay you a lump sum in the event that you fall ill and need to take time off work to recover.

Cigna HealthFirst Elite

Cigna HealthFirst Elite is a high-end plan with flexible options, allowing you to choose from three areas of coverage (Asia only, Worldwide excluding the US, or Worldwide), two room types (semi-private room or standard private room), and five annual deductible options to choose from according to your budget. Each HealthFirst Elite customer gets a Cigna Care manager, who will not only help you find a suitable doctor for whatever ailment you might have but also personally coordinate and follow up on any arrangements for surgery and hospitalization.

Henner Care & Health

Although Henner Care & Health is pricier than many other plans, Henner specializes in health insurance for people living abroad, providing high-end care to customers worldwide. Henner has one of the highest overall annual limits and gives you access to deductible discounts.

Morgan Price

Morgan Price’s Evolution Health Plan Asia Pacific is considerably more wallet-friendly than other plans on the market. It provides practical coverage for customers in the Asia Pacific region, with five different tiers to choose from, but it is not as customizable as the other plans listed above in terms of adding other benefits to your cover.

How to choose the right insurance plan for you

Hong Kong’s insurance market is competitive, with scores and scores of options to choose from. Finding the right insurance plan can be overwhelming, which is why we at Healthy Matters recommend reaching out to an insurance broker like Alea for advice!

Talk to a broker

Alea’s insurance brokers work on your behalf to find the best plan for you. After you reach out to them, they’ll ask you a few questions to get a sense of your situation and budget and prepare a sheet of quotes from different insurance companies for you. This way, you can compare and contrast the different plans and what they have to offer. 

Alea’s brokers have experience working with different insurance providers, so they’ll be able to make recommendations using their insider insights and expertise. The best thing about working with an insurance broker is that the service is totally free of charge – you don’t have to pay them a commission!