The Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) is officially launched today. AXA Hong Kong has successfully registered by the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) as a VHIS provider and will offer the Standard Plan for personal reimbursement for hospitalization, namely “WiseGuard Medical Insurance Plan”, and the Flexi Plan with flexible options as “Smart Medicare”. Both of the above VHIS programmes can be insured as a stand-alone basic plan or supplement to other AXA Hong Kong basic plans to meet customer needs. Optional supplementary major medical is available as a top-up for “Smart Medicare” customers for a  more comprehensive protection; while existing designated customers of  “Smart Medicare” can enjoy auto-upgrade, exempted from re-underwriting,  to the VHIS Flexi Plan on the policy anniversaries[1].

All-round expansion on medical coverage| VHIS to help alleviate the burden on the public healthcare system

AXA Hong Kong’s VHIS Certified Plans (including the “VHIS Standard Plan” and “VHIS Flexi Plan”) completely meet FHB’s requirements, including standardised policy terms and conditions, guaranteed renewal up to age 100, covering unknown pre-existing conditions and eligibility for tax deductions, among others. According to the “VHIS Perception Survey Findings”[2] released by AXA Hong Kong in February 2019, about half of the respondents welcomed the VHIS provision for tax deduction (42%) and extending the coverage to “unknown pre-existing conditions” (48%), indicating that the public expects medical insurance to offer a wider range of protection.

Dr. Alexander Chiu, Medical Director, Health and Employee Benefits of AXA Hong Kong and Macau, said, “As one of the leading companies in the medical insurance market, we are serving more than 500,000 customers[3]. We are pleased to participate in VHIS as well as to launch certified plans that allow more people to receive timely and comprehensive protection. VHIS includes such items as ‘unknown pre-existing conditions’ with wide coverage, which is believed to reform the medical insurance in the market. AXA Hong Kong will gradually expand the coverage of its medical insurance products in response to market demand.”

Exempted from re-underwriting | Existing designated “Smart Medicare” customers enjoy auto-upgraded[1] to “VHIS Flexi Plan”

At present, the public healthcare system is on the verge of saturation. AXA Hong Kong has found most Hong Kongpeople has underestimated or got no idea of the medical expenses in public hospital, in particular the self-financed items[4]. To enable customers to prepare for sudden and huge medical expenses, AXA  Hong Kong will enhance Smart Medicare in keeping with the VHIS Flexi Plan, and divided into three benefit levels: Regular, Superior & Premier. Existing Smart Medicare designated customers are exempt from re-underwriting for auto-upgrade[1] upon the policy anniversary, and it is expected that up to 70% medical insurance customers[5] of AXA Hong Kong will be benefited. Whether for a new or an auto-upgraded customer, Smart Medicare not only includes the product features of the VHIS Standard Plan, but also the outpatient kidney dialysis, medical negligence benefit, and more, to achieve a more comprehensive coverage. With flexibility, customers can also add optional supplementary major medical benefits as needed.

At the same time, AXA Hong Kong is actively preparing other VHIS Flexi Plans that meet VHIS requirements, to leverage on the existing cooperation and advantages in the medical market to meet the public demand among different sectors. Customers can evaluate their medical needs to choose VHIS certified products which gives the accessible, continuous, quality and transparent protection.