High costs, limited insurance coverage impede medical freedom in HK

Residents need $6.7m to achieve medical freedom.

Achieving “medical freedom” in Hong Kong requires $6.7m or 10 years of income, Prudential Hong Kong revealed.

In a report, the insurer revealed that residents struggle to achieve medical freedom due to high medical costs (66%) and due to network limitations of insurance plans, amongst others.

In Hong Kong, residents report that less than half of the medical insurance plans they currently own encompass services that they value such as global drug search (77%), second medical opinions (76%), and cross-border medical support (72%).

Additionally, only 43% of plans offer full single-room coverage, a priority for Hong Kong residents, and just 55% provide international medical services.

The report also found that more than half (54%) of residents want the quality of cross-border medical services to improve. With better services, the current usage rate of such services could increase by 48%.