Almost 7 in 10 Hong Kongers pessimistic on healthcare adequacy: study

Even coverage assignments aren't prioritized.

A research report in eight markets across Asia has shown an overall sense of discontent among Hong Kongers in terms of health and lifestyle.

According to a release from Sun Life Financial, alongside Singaporeans, they register the highest dissatisfaction levels of energy, stress and exercise.

They also show the lowest level of satisfaction with air quality across the entire survey with just 22 percent comfortable with the quality of air they breathe (compared to 41 percent regionally).

The findings further show the highest incidence of people reporting that they suffer from respiratory problems from poor air quality in Hong Kong (26 percent) – higher than in China.

When it comes healthcare adequacy, Hong Kongers are again the least optimistic, with only 29 percent believing they will have access to adequate healthcare in retirement (versus 48 percent regionally).

While most Hong Kongers expect to be the primary payer for their healthcare now (62 percent, the highest in the region), nearly one third expect the government (30 percent) or insurance (28 percent) to take up that role in retirement.

Despite this anxiety, SAR respondents don’t seem to prioritize making their own healthcare coverage arrangements in advance.

They scored the lowest in the region on the degree of importance they ranked saving for family, and the level of concern about the impact of a major health event on personal finances – yet six in 10 expect that a major health event would have a big impact on their personal finances.

Hong Kong was mostly in line with the rest of Asia in terms of other common health conditions experienced, either personally such as overweight/obesity (26 percent versus 23 percent) or diabetes experienced by their family members, (29 percent compared to 32 percent).