There are more than 20 different standard plans for Voluntary Health Insurance Schemes (VHIS) being offered in the market. How can you choose the best plan? Besides “saving the most” through family tax deductions, other important factors to consider are the prices or special offers. Since the protection cover and compensation provided by standard plans offered by major insurers are more or less the same, prices and special offers are key factors to determine the “value for money” of individual plans!
Premium Difference as much as $2,000 for VHIS Standard Plans of Different Insurers
Comparison of Standard Premiums of VHIS Standard Plans for a 30-year-old Male Policyowner Name of Insurer and the Plan Annual Premium* (HKD) Bowtie VHIS Standard $1,512.00 Sun Life WeHealth $1,620.00 Manulife Shelter VHIS Standard Plan $1,832.00 YFLife TaxVantage Medical Plan $1,867.00 China Life Guard Your Health Medical Insurance Plan $1,949.00 AIA Voluntary Health Insurance Standard Scheme $1,990.40 FWD VChoice Voluntary Health Insurance Plan $1,993.00 AXA WiseGuard Medical Insurance Plan (AXA China Region Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited) $1,996.00 Asia Insurance “Asia Unique – Family Care” $2,153.00 FWD Life vCore Medical Plan $2,170.00 Prudential Hong Kong Limited PRUHealth CoreChoice Medical Plan $2,239.05 FTLife “WiseCare” Medical Insurance Plan $2,249.00 Allianz Medical Protect $2,292.00 BOC Standard Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme Certified Plan $2,323.00 Chubb VHIS - Standard Plan $2,347.00 Blue Cross CareForYou Standard Plan for VHIS $2,428.00 Cigna VHIS Series - Standard Plan $2,472.00 Taiping Voluntary Health Insurance Standard Plan $2,666.00 BOC Life Standard VHIS $2,707.00 Bupa MyBasic VHIS Plan $2,775.00 Liberty Insurance Standard VHIS Plan $3,190.00 Dah Sing Insurance ADVANTAGE VHIS Standard Plan $3,208.00 MSIG Insurance VHIS Standard Care $4,104.00 *All are premiums for non-smoking policyowners According to the details of 23 standard plans listed on the webpage of the Food and Health Bureau,the annual premiums charged by the standard plans of Bowtie, Sun Life and Manulife are the lowest for a 30-year-old male policyowner. In contrast, for the same 30-year-old policyowner, the annual premium of buying a standard plan from AIA will be $1990.4. Amongst standard plans, the most expensive is MSIG Insurance’s VHIS Standard Care, with an annual premium of $4,104 for a 30-year-old male policyowner. This is over $2,000 more than the premium of the standard plan offered by Manulife.
Special Offers for VHIS not “Equal for All”
Comparison of Special Offers of Different VHIS Standard Plans Insurer Titles and Details of Special Offers 安達人壽 Chubb VHIS Combo Discount Offer HK$300 or $450 premium discount for those who are applying for or holding an eligible Basic Plan to enrol in Chubb’s VHIS Standard Plan (No given official promotion period） 宏利Manulife VHIS Premium Discount Campaign 10% premium discount for the first policy year (Promotion period: April 1st, 2019 to October 31st, 2019） VHIS Premium Discount Campaign – Migration 10% premium discount for the first policy year （Promotion period: April 1st, 2019 to June 30th, 2020） VHIS Family Discount Campaign Up to 20 % premium discount for the second policy year when insuring for eligible family members. (Promotion period: April 1st, 2019 to October 31st, 2019） 富衛保險 FWD Customers can enjoy a body check-up plan or dental scaling & polishing and an oral exam for free once after successfully completing the online application for VChoice Voluntary Health Insurance Plan through the designated official website. （Promotion period: April 1st, 2019 to September 30th, 2019） Similarly, since the contents of standard plans are generally the same, various special offers have been launched by major insurers, such as Chubb, Manulife and FWD, in order to attract customers. The offers include premium discounts, premium rebates, lucky draw offers, etc. When researching the special offers from different insurers, consumers should pay attention to the “applicable limits” of the terms and conditions, which mean the offers may not be “equal for all”. For example, Chubb’s special offer for its VHIS plans is limited to the policyowners of eligible medical plans of the company, who will get a $300 (Standard Plan) or $450 (Flexi Plan) premium discount if they insure themselves again with the company’s VHIS plans. Therefore, not all newly insured customers are eligible for this special offer. In addition, some insurers provide special offers other than premium rebates or discounts. For instance, FWD offers customers a medical check-up plan or dental scaling and polishing and an oral examination for free after successfully completing an online application for the VChoice Voluntary Health Insurance Plan throughthe designated official website. Some insurers are more straightforward in providing special offers to the policyowners. For example, Manulife provides a 10% premium discount to VHIS policyowners for successful applications from April 1st, 2019 to October 31st, 2019, with insurance premiums for the first year discounted by 10%. This is applicable to both the “Manulife Shelter VHIS Standard Plan” and “Manulife First VHIS Flexi Plan”. In addition, Manulife also provides a “VHIS Family Discount”. When the policyowner buys a VHIS policy for eligible family member(s), there will be premium discount provided according to the total number of insured - up to 20% premium saver.
Look at underwriting and terms of offers when switching to VHIS
Before the launch of VHIS, many consumers have already bought medical insurance policies. If they switch to other insurance policies, underwriting may be required. However, in order to attract customers, many insurers can waive underwriting if the insured switches to their VHIS plans, provided that the insurance covers are the same. Some insurers even provide special offers for customers to switch to VHIS plans. Nevertheless, similar to all special offers provided by insurers, consumers should pay attention to the related description of terms and conditions. Take AIA’s special offer for switching to VHIS plans as an example. This is simply a continuation of the “No Claim Bonus” of the “Super Good Health Medical Plan”, which requires that no claim be made for a designated number of policy years in order to be eligible for a premium refund. It does not provide immediate discounts to the premium of the standard plan. Furthermore, another insurer, Manulife, announced special offers for switching to its VHIS plans for all its existing medical insurance customers. From now until June 30th, 2020, no underwriting is required for all of its existing policyowners to “switch” to VHIS plans provided that the insurance coverage is identical. In addition, the 10% discount to the first policy year’s premium of VHIS plans is also applicable to all existing customers. Customers can also enrol in “ManulifeMOVE” programme free-of-charge and enjoy up to a 10% premium discount on policy renewals when the specified activity target is reached (subject to relevant terms and conditions). In addition to prices, special offers and tax deductions, first-time buyers of VHIS should also consider factors such as the brand name, reputation, the comprehensiveness of the services provided by the insurers, etc. By choosing an insurer with good reputation and professional and reliable insurance agents, the insured will be able to enjoy better professional advice and follow-up services. Want to learn more about the government's VHIS? Read our VHIS Guide!