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.
