Hong Kong authorities are considering expanding a voluntary health insurance scheme to cover services from the city’s first traditional Chinese medicine hospital when it opens next year.
The scheme was launched in 2019 to alleviate the strain on the public healthcare system by offering regulated hospital insurance products with high market transparency.
A Health Bureau spokesman said on Monday that the government had already started its preparatory efforts for the inclusion of the hospital’s services.
“The Health Bureau has reached out to the insurance industry and operators of the Chinese Medicine Hospital to facilitate their communication and prepare for the inclusion of the services into the voluntary health insurance scheme,” he said.
The bureau added that it had been monitoring the scheme’s implementation and market response, and would review its future direction once the market matured.
“This is to maximise the protective role of the voluntary health insurance scheme, taking into consideration the impact of any changes to protection on policyholders and premiums.”
The Chinese Medicine Hospital, which will be located in Tseung Kwan O, is set to adopt a public-private partnership model, with 65 per cent of the services subsidised by the government and the other 35 per cent provided by the private sector.
It will provide outpatient treatment in the first year, with inpatient services added the next year.
About 30 registered providers offering more than 300 options are currently covered under the voluntary health insurance scheme.
The number of policies under the scheme exceeded 1.2 million in 2023, with most policyholders aged between 20 and 49.
In the 2022-23 financial year, about 388,000 taxpayers claimed a deduction, with HK$2.8 billion (US$358,600) of qualifying premiums allowed under the scheme.
