VHIS Plans Comparison
Pay attention to those exclusions

【VHIS Plans Comparison】How should we select the most suitable voluntary health insurance scheme plan? Let’s Check out the Important Details

How should we choose among various Voluntary Health Insurance Schemes (VHIS)?

Is it the cheaper, the better? In fact, we should make the decision according to our actual situation and personal needs. As there are a wide range of VHIS, we should not merely compare the premiums of the schemes but pay more attention to the details of the insurance plans to select a VHIS plan with a higher price–performance ratio. The following analysis is based on the comparison of VHIS plans which are mainly purchased online from different perspectives.

Bupa HERO VHIS Detail

VHIS Comparison - Waiting Period

Regarding VHIS, there is a cooling-off period for people to consider cancelling unsuitable insurance policies within a period after purchase. In addition, VHIS may have a waiting period for making a claim for unknown pre-existing diseases, which means that the relevant benefits will not be fully covered until a designated period after the policy takes effect.

If the policyholder unfortunately falls ill during the waiting period, he or she may not be able to claim the full amount of compensation or may even fail to make a claim. For the benefits with a waiting period, the policyholder needs to make contributions for a specified number of years before enjoying a full cover. Therefore, the shorter the waiting period, the more effective the coverage will be.

VHIS Comparison – Waiting Period for Unknown Pre-existing Diseases
Bupa HERO VHIS	No waiting periods. Cover starts immediately after the policy takes effect.
Insurance Company B	Have waiting period: 1st policy year: No coverage 2nd policy year: 25% reimbursement 3rd policy year: 50% reimbursement 4th policy year: Full coverage
Insurance Company C	No waiting periods. Cover starts immediately after the policy takes effect.

VHIS Comparison - Outpatient Expense

The policyholders of VHIS can certainly claim the relevant medical expenses, while attention should be paid to the period of coverage and the number of claims, such as the cost of consultation with a specialist before admission, or the cost of several physical therapies after discharge. In case the period of treatment is longer than that of coverage, the policyholders will hence fail to receive adequate medical coverage and may even have to pay part of the costs by themselves.

VHIS Comparison - Outpatient Expense	Before confinement or day case procedure (No. of Claims / Period)	After confinement or day case procedure (No. of Claims / Period)
Bupa HERO VHIS	Unlimited / 90 days	Unlimited / 365 days
Insurance Company B	1 time / No specific period	3 times / 90 days
Insurance Company C	Unlimited / 30 days	Unlimited / 90 days

VHIS Comparison - Benefit Limit

By purchasing medical insurance, quality medical services can be obtained at a relatively low price, and the amount of benefit limit directly reflects the protection offered by the VHIS, which generally involves tens of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, as the annual medical expenses will increase with medical inflation, the average annual cost of cancer treatment in private hospitals alone may have reached more than one million*.
Therefore, the higher the amount of coverage, the more carefree protection can be enjoyed. Furthermore, it is difficult to estimate the medical needs of each person in his or her lifetime. If there is no lifetime benefit limit, the policyholders can hence receive treatments without worries or burdens.

VHIS Comparison - Benefit Limit	Annual Benefit Limit	Lifetime Benefit Limit
Bupa HERO VHIS	40 million	Unlimited
Insurance Company B	10 million	50 million
Insurance Company C	30 million	Unlimited

VHIS Comparison - Detailed Benefit

In addition to the above comparisons of the general coverage, it is necessary to pay extra attention to the exclusions of the VHIS to identify whether the benefits offered by the insurance plan really meet individual needs. For instance, some insurance schemes may focus more on the additional coverage for common serious diseases in Hong Kong, such as cancer and stroke, and may even cover the local citizens' demands on Chinese medicine treatments.

VHIS Comparison - Detailed Benefit	Bupa HERO VHIS	Insurance Company B	Insurance Company C
Medical Check-up Benefit	Once every year starting from the 2nd policy year (Up to $4,800/time)	Once every year ($1,200/time)	Once every 3 years with no claims
Consultation or acupuncture by a Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner after Confinement or specific treatments	✓	✕	✕
Full cover for cancer treatments	✓	✓	✓
Deductible waived for Cancer (if applicable)	✓	✕	✕
Home facility enhancement due to Stroke	✓	✕	✕
Non-Confinement sleep apnea test	✓	✕	✕
Complications of pregnancy	✓	✕	✕

Bupa HERO VHIS Detail

Remarks
The above information is the data of the products in the market as of June 2022 and is for reference only and does not constitute any advice on the sales of insurance products. Bupa does not guarantee the accuracy of the relevant information and the above information does not reflect all the benefits and details of the relevant insurance products. Please refer to the websites of the respective insurance companies for details.
*Data is retrieved from the press release of Cancerinformation.com.hk (Cancer treatment in Hong Kong not well-planned by the Government - Survey: Hong Kong people underestimate the cost of bowel cancer treatment in public hospitals by 19 times)

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