Introduction
Insurance companies participating in the VHIS (“VHIS Providers”) offer individual indemnity hospital insurance plans that are certified by the Health Bureau to comply with the minimum requirements of the scheme in product design (“Certified Plans”). Moreover, VHIS Providers must comply with a set of Code of Practices covering sales and marketing, handling of applications, after-sales services, etc.
It is a free choice of consumers whether to buy Certified Plans or not. To assist informed choice, comprehensive product and premium information of Certified Plans can be obtained on this website and the website of the insurance companies concerned.
Objectives
Enhance the protection level of hospital insurance products
Provide the public with an additional choice of using private healthcare services through hospital insurance
Relieve the pressure on the public healthcare system in the long run
Key Features of Certified Plans
Greater protection and transparency
Guaranteed renewal up to the age of 100 years
irrespective of change in your health condition after policy inception
No “lifetime benefit limit”
your benefits will be continued until you reach 100 years of age*
Cooling-off period of 21 days
during which you can cancel your policy with full refund of premium
Premium transparency
with premium schedule easily accessible on this website and websites of insurance companies
Coverage extended to include
Unknown pre-existing conditions
will be partially covered in 2nd year (25%) and 3rd year (50%) after policy inception and fully covered (100%) afterwards
Treatment of congenital conditions
which have manifested or been diagnosed since the age of 8 will be covered
Day case procedures
such as endoscopy conducted in day centres will be covered
Prescribed diagnostic imaging tests
such as Computed Tomography (CT scan), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI scan) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) conducted during hospital stay or in an outpatient setting will be covered, subject to 30% coinsurance
Prescribed non-surgical cancer treatments
such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy will be covered
Psychiatric inpatient treatments in local hospitals
will be covered up to the limit of HK$30,000 per policy year
(*) Some Flexi Plans that meet specified criteria can have lifetime benefit limits.
VHIS Providers
All insurance companies must be successfully registered with the Health Bureau as VHIS Providers (and obtain a registration number) before they can offer Certified Plans in the market.
As in the case of all insurance businesses, the insurance companies participating in VHIS are subject to the supervision and regulation of the Insurance Authority under the Insurance Ordinance. In addition, the insurance companies registered as VHIS Providers are required to comply with the rules of the scheme, including the product compliance rules and the code of practice.
Meaning of VHIS Policy
An insurance policy includes one or more covers, which usually refer to one or more insurance plans. An insurance plan becomes a “Certified Plan” when it fulfills the VHIS requirements and is certified by the Health Bureau.
An insurance policy becomes a “VHIS Policy” when it is in whole or in part issued under a Certified Plan.
If a VHIS Policy is in whole issued under a Certified Plan, it means that the insurance policy consists of terms and benefits concerning the Certified Plan only. Under this circumstance, the entire VHIS Policy is subject to the scheme rules of VHIS, and the total premiums paid for the VHIS Policy is eligible for tax deduction in accordance with the relevant tax laws.
If a VHIS Policy is in part issued under a Certified Plan, it means that in addition to terms and benefits of the Certified Plan, the VHIS Policy also consists of terms and benefits concerning another insurance plan(s), for instance where the Certified Plan serves as a medical rider to a life insurance plan. Under this circumstance, only that part of the VHIS Policy related to the Certified Plan is subject to the scheme rules of VHIS, and only the premiums paid for the Certified Plan are eligible for tax deduction in accordance with the relevant tax laws.
For ease of identification, the pages relevant to the Certified Plan in each VHIS Policy have a footer stating that “the content on this page is part of the Terms and Benefits of Certified Plan (<Certification Number>)”. Besides, the premium payment record issued by the insurance companies is required to indicate clearly the premiums paid in respect of Certified Plan.
Tax Deduction
The premiums paid for a VHIS Policy is eligible for the tax deduction under the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap.112). If a VHIS Policy provides both Certified Plan coverage and other insurance protection, only the premiums in relation to the Certified Plan are eligible for the tax deduction.
