Is Group Medical Insurance Enough? Top up with VHIS!
Top Up Group Medical Insurance
Top-up health insurance refers to purchasing additional health insurance on top of your existing health insurance, typically to fill the gaps in your company’s coverage. When you unfortunately become ill and hospitalized, and the medical expenses exceed the reimbursement limit of your company’s health insurance, top-up health insurance comes into play. Some products (like Bowtie Pink) even fully reimburse the difference, preventing you from having to pay huge medical bills out of pocket.
Why do companies with health insurance still require you to purchase VHIS top-up?
1. Company medical insurance may not cover the full amount
While it’s good for companies to provide medical insurance as an employee benefit, it’s important to know that having company-provided health insurance doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll receive full reimbursement! According to a 10Life survey, company-provided health insurance typically only covers about 80% of the costs for day surgery, checkups, or some minor illnesses. For serious illnesses, such as angioplasty or cancer treatment, the reimbursement rate is only 18.4% to 32.4%, meaning employees may have to pay over $140,000 out of pocket.
For example, in a real case of tonsillectomy (see Table 1), the employee had to bear nearly 20,000 yuan in medical expenses because he did not have personal medical insurance.
Table 1: Real Cases of Tonsillectomy
| Coverage | Medical expenses | Company medical insurance reimbursement amount | The employee pays the difference |
| Basic guarantee | |||
| Wards and meals | $1,894 | $1,600 | $294 |
| Doctor’s rounds fee | $2,800 | $1,600 | $1,200 |
| Hospitalization miscellaneous expenses | $11,300 | $8,000 | $3,300 |
| Surgical fees | $20,000 | $8,000 | $12,000 |
| Operating room fees | $6,000 | $2,800 | $3,200 |
| Total | $41,994 | $22,000 | $19,994 |
If your company’s medical insurance doesn’t cover everything, enrolling in voluntary medical insurance early can supplement the coverage and prevent you from falling behind due to illness. In fact, voluntary medical insurance premiums don’t have to be expensive; there are affordable options available.
Taking the tonsillectomy surgery mentioned above as an example, the out-of-pocket cost for one surgery is close to $20,000, which exceeds the total premium of a voluntary health insurance policy that provides full reimbursement* (such as Bowtie Pink) for 6 years (approximately $16,300). In other words, the premiums paid are lower than the out-of-pocket medical expenses.
2. Company medical insurance may not cover long-term hospitalization
If you unfortunately contract a serious illness and require long-term hospitalization, you may face the problem of insufficient coverage from your company’s medical insurance. This is because some coverage items, such as daily hospitalization and meal expenses, and inpatient doctor’s fees, may have a number of days limit (see Table 2). In other words, medical expenses incurred beyond the preset number of days must be borne by the patient, which further burdens long-term hospitalized patients. A personal voluntary medical insurance policy can mitigate this risk.
Table 2: Comparison of Day Limits for Guaranteed Projects
| Company Medical Insurance | Bowtie Pink | |
| Daily hospitalization and meal expenses | Maximum 45 days | No upper limit |
| Hospitalization doctor fees | Maximum 45 days | No upper limit |
3. Company medical insurance may be reduced or even disappear at any time
Employees have no control over their company’s medical insurance coverage. For example, companies may reduce the scope and amount of coverage or compensation for medical insurance in order to meet budget constraints, or even cancel the company’s medical insurance in extreme cases.
This means that the medical coverage you enjoy today may be significantly reduced or completely eliminated tomorrow. Unless you change jobs, employees have no choice but to accept this. However, if you have personal voluntary health insurance, you can mitigate the relative impact.
4. Changing jobs or becoming unemployed will create a gap
Changing jobs is a common occurrence in the workplace. Even if you don’t plan to change jobs, you may be forced to do so during a poor economic climate, or even face unemployment. In either case, you may lose your company’s health insurance.
It’s worth noting that even if you successfully switch jobs, the new company’s medical insurance may not take effect immediately. Many companies only provide medical insurance after the probationary period. The job transition process, including the probationary period, can easily take up to six months.
What if you fall ill during this period? Minor illnesses can be managed on your own, but if you need to be hospitalized for a serious illness, the situation becomes complicated. Those with personal health insurance can transfer the risk to their insurance company and don’t need to worry about medical expenses. Conversely, those without personal health insurance will have to pay out of pocket.
If I already have company health insurance and want to top up with voluntary health insurance, what should I do?
Consumers may consider choosing a high-end voluntary health insurance policy with a deductible, such as Bowtie Pink, to top up their company’s health insurance. When choosing voluntary health insurance, it is advisable to compare the success rate of claims and the long-term premiums to ensure a good deal and a smooth claim process.
Why should you top up with Bowtie Pink?
1. Higher success rate in claims than the market average.
Bowtie’s voluntary health insurance claims approval rate is as high as 98.3%*, which is higher than the overall voluntary health insurance claims success rate of 92% to 96%3 in Hong Kong from April 2019 to the end of 2023 (source: Legislative Council documents).
2. Lower premiums: Saves you an average of 35% annually .
Medical insurance premiums are a long-term expense, so policyholders should pay attention to long-term premium levels. While many insurance companies offer first-year premium discounts or other short-term reductions, some even as low as 10% of the first-year premium, policyholders should not be solely attracted by these offers. Instead, they should compare the long-term premium levels of different insurance companies and assess their own ability to afford the premiums over the long term before making a purchase decision.
To facilitate comparison, Bowtie has compiled standard and flexible plans from insurance companies in the market for your reference:
Bowtie helps you save average expenses every year.
- Bowtie Flexible Plan (Basic): 35%
- Bowtie Standard Plan: 27%
- Bowtie Pink (semi-private): 22%
3. Three room types available, global coverage guaranteed
Bowtie Pink Voluntary Health Insurance offers three ward levels: standard room, semi-private room, and private room, and provides four out-of-pocket options: $0, $20,000, $50,000, and $80,000. Policyholders can choose the Bowtie Pink plan that suits their individual needs and the coverage of their company’s health insurance.
In addition, Bowtie Pink offers consistent global coverage, ensuring you have protection while traveling or on business trips.
Which type of insurance should you buy first at different stages of life?
1. Prioritize purchasing medical insurance
Take a recent graduate entering the workforce as an example. Once they have their own income, they can start planning their finances, and purchasing appropriate insurance within a reasonable budget is a crucial part of risk management. Since their income may be low at the beginning of their careers, many people will use the lowest budget to purchase the insurance they urgently need first.
Basic health insurance is the type of insurance that provides the most basic protection against major and minor illnesses or accidents among the three types. When choosing a health insurance product, you can make appropriate adjustments based on whether you have company health insurance and its coverage to reduce overlap in coverage and improve premium efficiency.
For example, if you find that your company provides team medical insurance, you may consider purchasing a high-end medical insurance policy with a ” deductible ” as a supplement to enhance your coverage.
2. Purchase critical illness insurance as needed
If you have a remaining budget after purchasing basic health insurance, or if your income has increased and you have additional funds available, then it’s time to buy critical illness insurance . Considering current medical inflation and the list of expensive out-of-pocket medications, a critical illness coverage amount can start at $1,000,000 and be increased according to your financial capacity. Since critical illness insurance offers different plans, contribution methods, and savings options, under the premise of budget control, a basic critical illness plan that is not based on savings and can be purchased online is the best way to obtain the maximum coverage amount with the lowest premium.
Having both medical insurance and critical illness insurance means that even if a critical illness occurs, medical insurance can provide basic medical expense reimbursement, while the cash compensation for critical illness can make up for the shortfall that medical insurance cannot fully cover, as well as provide living allowances during the recovery period.
3. Purchase life insurance when getting married
Entering the next stage of life, such as starting a family or buying a home, changes in family roles and responsibilities lead to different insurance needs. Whether it’s the birth of a child or taking on a multi-million dollar mortgage, these are responsibilities or liabilities in life. At this stage, the unfortunate event of passing away will not only cause immense grief to family members but also create enormous financial pressure. If sufficient assets or security haven’t been left for family members, they will suffer emotional trauma while simultaneously bearing significant financial burdens.
To avoid the double blow to family members and to ensure their quality of life doesn’t decline due to your sudden passing, purchasing appropriate life insurance is the most effective solution. Whether it’s debts related to children or mortgages, the term is generally only 20 to 30 years. Therefore, purchasing non-savings term life insurance allows you to buy millions in coverage at the lowest premiums, ensuring your family won’t have to make huge compromises regarding housing and children’s education after your death.
