Hong Kong to review medical insurance, Greater Bay Area options amid costlier healthcare
Medical insurance in Hong Kong is a loss-making business even though sales have been growing over the past few years, regulator says
The Insurance Authority plans to review the city’s medical insurance market to address the rising cost of healthcare and allow more insurers to provide coverage for Hongkongers seeking to retire in the Greater Bay Area.
The industry regulator will reassess the situation some time this year and take appropriate actions to enhance the market in the coming years, senior executives said on Friday. The review will cover product structure, pricing, exclusion, claims processes and medical partnerships, among other areas.
“With an ageing population, demand for medical insurance and retirement-related insurance products will be huge,” Clement Cheung Wan-ching, the authority’s CEO, said on Friday. “We will need to make sure our medical insurance and life insurance sectors can develop well.”
Residents older than 65 years made up about 22 per cent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population in 2023, according to government data. This proportion is projected to rise to 36 per cent in 2047, he added, heaping pressure on the city’s healthcare system.
Insurance companies collected HK$10.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) in gross premiums on medical policies in the first half of 2024, according to the Insurance Authority, incurring an underwriting loss of HK$357 million.
The premiums rose 7.5 per cent in 2023 to HK$16.2 billion, while underwriting loss swelled 144 per cent to HK$856 million.