Do Students Need Health Insurance?

Even though students don’t have income to plan their own finances, it doesn’t mean they don’t need health insurance. When accidents or illnesses strike, they still need treatment, whether through public or private healthcare systems.

Just like adults, although Hong Kong’s public healthcare system is of high quality, facing wait times that can stretch to months or even years, such as the waiting periods , not all patients or conditions can handle that kind of delay.

Additionally, even if you opt for treatment through the public system, many medications or surgical supplies must be paid for out of pocket by the patient, like the stents used in stent procedures, which can cost several thousand Hong Kong dollars.

Considering these factors, it’s wise for parents to provide at least basic health insurance for their school-aged children, giving them reasonable treatment options if accidents or illnesses occur.

Health Insurance for Kindergarten and Primary School Students

For young children, catching contagious illnesses from playmates or getting hurt during play is just part of growing up. Even without the big disruptions like COVID-19 in recent years, the annual flu season still leaves many little ones battling bugs.

Beyond those risks, kids can unfortunately develop cancer, even if it’s not as common as in adults. According to data from the Children’s Cancer Fund , about 100-200 children in Hong Kong are diagnosed with cancer each year, with the top three types being leukemia, brain tumors, and lymphoma.

Taking all these risks into account, getting basic health and accident insurance for kindergarten and primary school kids is a smart move—it provides better medical support and check-ups for little ones who might not yet have the words to express what’s wrong.

A quick heads-up for parents: Many private hospitals require kids with infectious diseases to stay in rooms with fewer patients or even alone, so if you go for a standard ward plan, you might end up paying extra for semi-private or private rooms out of pocket. If your budget allows, opting for a semi-private room level in their health insurance makes more sense for real-world needs. And if you’re worried about the chance of cancer, adding cancer coverage or critical illness insurance can help offset that risk.

Health Insurance for Secondary School Students

Similar to primary school kids, secondary school students still need health insurance, but with their improved physical strength and communication skills, a standard ward level plan plus accident coverage can handle most risks just fine.

Keep in mind that many secondary students these days travel abroad for exchanges or competitions, so double-check that your insurance plan covers the destinations they’ll be visiting.

Health Insurance for University and Tertiary Students

University and tertiary students are in a similar boat to secondary schoolers, but their lives get even more exciting—with overseas exchanges, summer internships, competitions, or even studying abroad for years.

Given that some health insurance policies have regional restrictions, when shopping for coverage, make sure to pick plans that cover the areas where they’ll be active. Plus, healthcare costs vary widely around the world, so a basic plan from Hong Kong might not reimburse a high percentage of overseas medical expenses. In that case, going for premium coverage available in their study destination is a better way to support your globetrotting scholar.

Many parents think that children have a low chance of hospitalization, so they want to save on the hundreds of dollars in monthly health insurance premiums. However, this penny-pinching approach could cause permanent harm to their children.

I have a good friend who, during our middle school years, played inter-school soccer matches representing our school together. As we moved on to university, the intensity of the matches increased, greatly raising the risk of injury. Eventually, his right knee’s anterior cruciate ligament tore, requiring surgery to heal. However, his family hadn’t purchased any insurance, making it hard to afford the tens of thousands in private hospital fees, so he had to receive treatment at a public hospital, with a surgery wait time of about a year.

Perhaps some people think a one-year wait is reasonable, but for the injured person, it’s immense torment and could even lead to permanent trauma. When one joint is injured, the work has to be redistributed to other joints, so my friend with the right knee injury put a lot of pressure on his left leg during that year of waiting; ultimately, during a light exercise, his left knee’s anterior cruciate ligament also tore. Although after surgery and rehabilitation on both knees, he could still play soccer, his legs’ speed, power, and explosiveness are not what they used to be.

My friend’s experience has continually reminded me throughout my insurance career of the importance of having insurance for children; even a health insurance policy costing just two to three hundred dollars could have probably changed his life.

As I mentioned earlier, students may need health insurance at different stages. In fact, Bowtie offers many high-value options in the health insurance field, which parents might want to reference and compare: