The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) today (29 March 2019) welcomes the official launch of the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS).

“The HKFI has been actively assisting the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) to come up with a viable VHIS framework over the past five years,” said Mr David Alexander, Chairman of HKFI’s Task Force on Health Care Reform. “During the process, our industry specialists provided professional input through various channels including serving at FHB’s Consultative Group, assisting the Administration in working out the scheme’s governance, structure and modus operandi, and fine tuning its parameters for more comprehensive protection for policyholders. Specifically, we played an instrumental role in assisting FHB in devising the standardised policy terms and conditions, which greatly enhanced the transparency of VHIS products."

While insurance companies strive to develop and provide quality VHIS plans to give consumers a variety of choice, the HKFI will remain focused on:

• educating the public on points to look out for when taking out medical insurance;

• providing professional training for insurance intermediaries on VHIS; and

• working with our self-regulatory body Insurance Complaints Bureau to resolve any disputes relating to VHIS in a fair and transparent manner.

VHIS is a manifesto of what public-private partnership can achieve. On the launch of VHIS, HKFI would like to thank all parties involved and the valuable contributions they have made, in particular the Task Force on Health Care Reform, the Medical Insurance Association and all HKFI Member Companies. A vote of thanks is also due to the Hon K P Chan and the Insurance Authority for the support and guidance they rendered.

“It’s been a long and rewarding journey,” added Mr David Alexander. “I believe that VHIS, with its enhanced features in terms of coverage and transparency, will bring new energy to the market, provide better choices for consumers. VHIS will also help to attract more young people to take out medical insurance and hence protect themselves and their families.”