Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-05-31
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
Many LIHKG users have questions about medical insurance. Do you need extra coverage if you have company insurance? What medical history to declare? Can premiums be paused? The Bowtie Team will be addressing these common LIHKG queries.
LINKG Queries on How to Choose Medical Insurance
Question 1: Is buying medical and accident insurance enough? Is pure protection better than savings?
In fact, everyone’s needs are different, so it is hard to generalise and compile a fixed list of insurance products to purchase.
However, Medical Insurance is essential for most people. With the public healthcare system being overburdened and private medical service costs rising, medical insurance can cover all or part of your medical expenses if you need surgery or treatment, transferring the risk to the insurance company.
Additionally, if you are the family’s breadwinner, have mortgage or large debts to manage, or worry about being unable to cover living expenses if you stop working due to a serious illness, you might also need life insurance or critical illness insurance.
As this user mentioned, consumer-type insurance is indeed a good choice for the modern generation,
- It has no binding clauses and is paid monthly;
- As a pure protection product, it has lower premiums, allowing policyholders to save on costs and use the savings for other purposes like fixed deposits or investments.
Choose the Pure Protection Consumer Insurance That Suits You Now!
Question 2: Are all plans basically the same, and is a monthly premium of around HK$100 enough?
When choosing an insurance product, you shouldn’t look at price alone!
Each insurance company and plan has different coverage scopes, limits, and additional protections, so you can’t determine if a product is enough based solely on the premium level.
If you want to purchase VHIS , there are relatively fewer items to compare, as the coverage provided by different companies’ Standard Plan is largely the same, and the basic coverage items in the Flexi Plan are similar. Of course, you should still pay attention to differences in coverage amounts and additional protections.
When choosing medical insurance , here are some tips:
- First, check if you already have medical coverage (such as company medical insurance or a policy taken out by family members)
- If you do, consider options suitable for Top-up (i.e., adding another policy), such as Bowtie Pink with a deductible option, to enhance your existing policy’s coverage
- If you have no coverage at all, consider a basic medical insurance option, such as Bowtie VHIS (Flexi Plan)
- Additionally, consider your budget, the potential premium increases over the next 5 to 10 years, the type of hospital ward you prefer, and the claims ratio and reputation of the insurance company you’re interested in
As for whether it’s “enough,” there’s no universal standard since everyone’s needs vary. However, pure protection medical insurance isn’t expensive and is affordable even for average workers. For example, with Bowtie Pink (Ward, with a HK$80,000 deductible), a 30-year-old non-smoker only pays HK$197 per month, providing annual coverage of HK$8 million and lifetime coverage of HK$40 million, fully reimbursing medical expenses#.
Bowtie’s Personalized Insurance Recommendation Tool to Help You Select the Right Coverage!
- * Full compensation means there is no sub-item compensation limit and it only applies to specified coverage items. The payable compensation is subject to deductible balance (if applicable), annual coverage limit, lifetime coverage limit, and other restrictions including reasonable and customary charges, pre-existing conditions, designated hospitals in mainland China, and related medical treatment in the US. For detailed product terms, conditions, product risks, and exclusions, please refer to the relevant product website and policy.
Question 3: Is Company Medical Insurance Enough? Do You Need More Coverage?
Many believes that as long as the company provides company medical insurance, they don’t need to purchase one themselves, but is it true?
In addition to Company Medical Insurance , we also need a Top-up medical insurance plan. The main reasons are as follows:
- Company medical insurance coverage may not be tailored to each employee, possibly focusing on outpatient services while neglecting inpatient coverage
- The coverage amount of company medical insurance may be at a basic level, potentially “not covering enough” for surgery or hospitalization claims
- Company medical insurance becomes invalid upon resignation, and new job’s medical insurance generally only takes effect after the probation period, resulting in a “medical insurance gap” during job transitions
- There is no company medical insurance after retirement; purchasing one at that time may lead to rejection by the insurance company due to medical history or loading ; opting for public medical services may involve long waiting times
If you want to purchase Top-up medical insurance, a plan with a deductible (self-payment) is most suitable. When making claims, you can use the compensation from your company medical insurance or existing personal medical insurance to cover the deductible, effectively avoiding overlapping coverage without wasting your current policy’s benefits; meanwhile, the premium for the new policy is more affordable due to the deductible option.
If you already have company medical insurance or other personal medical insurance , you can determine the deductible based on the ward and meal coverage amount specified in that policy.
LINKG Queries On Insurance Application
Question 4: What medical records should I declare?
Generally, medical records for Common cold , flu , or gastroenteritis seen at a family doctor do not need to be specifically declared.
Insurance companies require prospective policyholders to declare medical history during application to assess the risk of illness. This includes past hospitalizations, surgeries, abnormal findings from physical exams, diagnosed chronic conditions, family medical history, and congenital diseases.
To help you understand which conditions need to be reported and which do not, we have compiled a list of conditions that do not require declaration (as they will not affect underwriting results):
- Common cold / Flu / Sore throat
- Gastroenteritis / Food poisoning (fully recovered)
- Indigestion (no tests required)
- Acne, muscle strains (fully recovered)
- Thrush, routine prenatal scans / blood tests (normal results)
- Routine cervical cell smear tests (normal results)
- Routine health check-ups (normal results)
- Preventive vaccines
- Hormone replacement therapy (menopause)
- Fertility treatments or normal pregnancies
- Nearsightedness / Farsightedness / Astigmatism / Presbyopia
When applying for insurance, you must declare your medical history in accordance with the principle of utmost good faith. This means that, regardless of whether the insurance company asks for specific information, you must proactively disclose all material facts—any circumstances that could influence a prudent insurer’s decision on premiums or risk acceptance. Failure to fully report your medical history or concealing information may result in claim denials later, as the insurer could argue that important facts were not disclosed.
If you are applying through an agent, simply be honest about your medical history with them;
If applying online, answer the multiple-choice questions accurately or provide supplementary details about your medical history as needed. The insurance company will contact you if further information is required to understand your situation.
Online insurance application is convenient and fast, and no one will be judging you when you’re declaring personal medical history.
Question 5: If my check-up result shows abnormal health symptoms, but there’s no disease, will VHIS cover it?
Abnormalities in certain body indices may be precursors or symptoms of chronic diseases. We will review each case independently, as everyone’s physical condition varies. It depends on which indices are abnormal and considering other health conditions to make the final underwriting decision.
If body indices are abnormal, after underwriting, there are generally the following results:
- Can be insured at standard premium
- Requires Loading
- Requires an increase in exclusions
- Declined
For example, with Bowtie, in most cases, individuals with high blood pressure can successfully get insured at the standard premium (no Loading required). There are also individuals with diabetes who successfully get insured with Loading. Of course, whether underwriting is approved depends on the specifics of each case, with no uniform answer.
Worried about failing the underwriting?
LINKG Queries ON Premiums
Question 6: Should I use savings insurance to pay for monthly premiums?
Many people worry that as they age, medical insurance premiums will become too high to afford, and seek ways to pay off medical insurance. It is important to note that, medical insurance is annually renewed .
Given that many are concerned about future medical insurance costs, some agents suggest buying a savings-based life insurance policy alongside medical insurance to use its dividends for future premiums, known as medical financing . However, this approach has many limitations , and achieving full payoff requires precise calculations and high savings contributions.
Instead of relying on uncertain methods, we suggest you opt for pure protection and high-value online medical insurance. We previously compared Bowtie VHIS with products from two traditional insurers , finding that for ages 65–80, Bowtie VHIS total premiums are lower by over HK$50,000 and HK$100,000 respectively, making it more affordable even in the long run.
Get a quote now and see how affordable Bowtie Voluntary Health Insurance is!
⭐️ VHIS + Critical Illness: Why Do You Need Both?
First, everyone needs to understand the differences in the functions of medical insurance and critical illness insurance:
- Medical insurance: In a reimbursement form , provides compensation for eligible medical expenses
- Critical illness insurance: In a lump-sum form , provides compensation if the insured unfortunately suffers from a specified serious illness, to cover living expenses during the period of absence from work due to illness, allowing the insured to focus on treatment and recovery
Therefore, if you unfortunately suffer from a critical illness, having only medical insurance may cover your medical expenses but may not address the long-term issues you need to handle due to the illness. In fact, when you are diagnosed with a critical illness, even if it is not life-threatening, it often forces you to stop working and lose income, which can affect your quality of life and disrupt your existing plans.
Since the coverage of medical insurance and critical illness insurance does not overlap, a reliable critical illness insurance can replace the income you lose while out of work, providing financial support and reducing the impact on other family members, while maintaining your original quality of life.
Moreover, even if you cannot purchase new insurance after falling ill, the critical illness compensation can help you continue paying premiums for your existing medical insurance when necessary.
Critical illness insurance is absolutely an important form of protection. In addition to medical insurance, the importance of critical illness insurance cannot be overlooked. In any situation, as long as you have a stable income, you should actively consider purchasing a critical illness policy to give yourself an extra layer of protection.
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