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Long-term international health insurance is designed for people living or working in Hong Kong for an extended period of time. Whether it’s medical bill coverage or medical evacuation for serious medical emergencies, having long-term international health insurance will ensure maximum peace of mind.
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Are you an expat looking to live and work in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future? Are you looking to keep your finances safe from medical bills and more? This Pacific Prime guide will discuss long-term international health insurance in Hong Kong for expats.
How Long-Term International Health Insurance Works in Hong Kong
Long-term international health insurance covers various forms of medical services such as different forms of treatment and emergency care. Unlike travel insurance, which only covers expats for a certain duration, long-term international health insurance covers expats for as long as they need.
As such, while travel insurance is designed for travelers and expats living overseas for a certain period of time, long-term international health insurance is uniquely crafted for expats who live or work overseas for an extended period of time.
Beyond expats and their families merely looking for a fresh start overseas, long-term international health insurance would benefit business professionals who are assigned to work abroad or need to move overseas for work purposes for the foreseeable future.
The Benefits of Long-Term International Health Insurance in Hong Kong
Notable benefits of long-term international health insurance include inpatient and outpatient coverage, medical evacuation, and more. Below are notable benefits of long-term international health insurance for expats:
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- Inpatient and outpatient coverage: Whether or not you are required to stay overnight at a hospital in Hong Kong following treatment, a long-term international health insurance plan will cover these medical bills to keep your finances safe while ensuring maximum peace of mind.
- Worldwide coverage (you can also include your home country): If you need to be transported from Hong Kong to a different country for treatment via medical evacuation, you can rest assured your medical bills there will be covered.
- 24/7 emergency medical assistance and medical emergency coverage: Whenever you need help in case of a medical emergency in Hong Kong, you will be able to access a medical facility through your long-term international health insurance provider, who will cover your emergency treatment expenses.
- Direct billing: With direct billing, the doctor or hospital in Hong Kong will directly send the medical bills to your long-term international health insurance provider so you don’t have to file a separate claim with the insurer.
- Medical evacuation and repatriation coverage: With the evacuation and repatriation coverage, you can call for a method of transportation to get you from Hong Kong to a hospital overseas or back to your home country without having to pay out-of-pocket.
- Free provider selection: You can freely select any particular hospital in Hong Kong you would like, including those with multilingual medical staff, shorter waiting times, less-crowded facilities, or those known for superior amenities compared to general public hospitals.
Additionally, the free provider selection feature would be especially useful for expats and their families who are expecting a child in Hong Kong or just hospitalized patients. Specifically, expats can choose hospitals with bigger wards for comfort or those with shorter waiting times.
This feature also allows access to hospitals with shorter waiting times and less-crowded staff also means expats can get the treatment they need in a timely manner. What’s more, expats can also access hospitals with multilingual staff so they can easily communicate with medical staff.
Additional Benefits as Needed
Many long-term international health insurance plans also have additional benefits such as vision, dental, maternity, and preventative care. You also have the option to freely customize your plans by adding the aforementioned benefits on top of default plans as you would like.
By doing so, you not only ensure maximum coverage and peace of mind for yourself but also your family. That way, you can ensure services such as maternity care for your spouse, your vision care, and your kids’ dental care expenses are fully covered.
That said, please keep in mind that many of these benefits will have waiting periods (usually six months to two years) where you will have to wait for a certain amount of time and pay for medical bills on your own before you can get covered.
If you have any questions regarding the waiting period and when you will be covered for these benefits, please contact your provider for exact details on the waiting period.
Who Does Long-Term International Health Insurance Cover?
Long-term international health insurance covers expats as well as families and business professionals alike. Students who live overseas for studying purposes will also greatly benefit from long-term international health insurance.
If you are looking to live in Hong Kong by yourself or with your family for an extended period of time, if you’re looking to study abroad in Hong Kong, or if you get a job in Hong Kong, long-term international health insurance will grant you peace of mind by covering your medical finances.
Is Long-Term International Health Insurance Necessary for Expats?
While not necessarily a requirement, long-term international health insurance is strongly recommended for expats. This is because local health insurance plans from your home country won’t cover you abroad and travel insurance plans won’t cover you long enough.
For instance, in Hong Kong’s case, health insurance isn’t a requirement. That said, we strongly urge you to secure long-term international health insurance anyway especially if you’re going to be living in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future for work, study, or just relocation purposes.
Factors to Consider When Getting Long-Term International Health Insurance in Hong Kong
As an expat securing long-term international health insurance, you need to take certain factors into consideration such as knowing that neither your local health insurance plan nor a travel insurance plan will be sufficient and that deciding based on price won’t guarantee comprehensiveness.
Listed below are factors you should consider when securing long-term international health insurance as an expat in Hong Kong:
- Your Local Health Insurance Plan Won’t Work: Your local health insurance plan from your home country will not cover you abroad. Thus, if you’re going to move to Hong Kong for study, work, or just relocation purposes, you’re going to need long-term international health insurance.
- Travel Insurance Won’t Work Either: Just as your local health insurance plan won’t work, neither does travel insurance. This is because travel insurance is designed for short-term coverage, which won’t be enough if you’re staying in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future.
- Don’t Decide Based on Price: When deciding on long-term international health insurance plans, much like any other type of health insurance plan, never decide based on price as the cheapest plan won’t guarantee comprehensive coverage and leave you with odd gaps in uninsured areas.
- Comprehensiveness Comes First: Instead, decide based on the comprehensiveness of benefits you can add on top of default plans such as dental, maternity, vision, or preventative care. This will not only ensure maximum coverage for you, but also for your family.
Lifetime Renewability
Lifetime renewability is a feature in international health insurance policies that allows continuous coverage without re-qualification from scratch. This feature guarantees a smooth, uninterrupted access to healthcare throughout the duration of one’s prolonged stay abroad.
Additionally, expats can then continue to keep their finances safe whether it’s accessing local hospitals in Hong Kong or needing to use medical evacuation to get to other hospitals abroad for treatment.
Best Long-Term International Health Insurance Providers for Expats in Hong Kong
Some of the best long-term international health insurance providers in Hong Kong include AXA, Cigna, Geoblue, and more. Below we will be discussing these notable long-term international health insurance providers to help expats in Hong Kong decide.
AIA
AIA features health insurance plans for both individuals and businesses. What’s more, the insurer also offers a multitude of insurance products such as life and medical insurance, as well as accident and critical illness protection, and many more.
AIA’s health insurance plans are also customizable, allowing expats to add benefits such as preventative, dental, vision, maternity, and mental health care on top of their plans as they would like.
However, specific customization limits will depend on the chosen insurance product and what region it is available in.
Cigna Global
International health insurance plans from Cigna Global come in many different types, such as the Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Close Care plans. Each plan has its own annual limit, with Platinum’s being unlimited.
The Silver plan offers core benefits expats will need while living overseas, the Gold plan grants higher levels of coverage and benefits not seen in its predecessor, and the Platinum plan offers the most comprehensive coverage with most of its benefits paid in full.
On the other hand, the Close Care plan is an affordable alternative for expats who want just international health insurance for the country they’re living in and their home country.
Bupa Global
Bupa Global offers private international health insurance for individuals and families, as well as groups and businesses. Bupa Global has an extensive network of healthcare providers and some highlights of their plans include customizable plans, direct specialist access without referrals, and more.
Bupa Global’s health insurance plans come in the following variations:
- Major Medical
- Select
- Premier
- Elite
AXA
AXA has five main international health insurance plans, consisting of the Foundation plan, the Standard plan, the Comprehensive plan, the Prestige plan, and the Prestige Plus plan. Notable highlights of their plans include second medical opinions, 24/7 personal support, and many more.
Each plan has its own annual limits and the Comprehensive plan onwards is where we start seeing additional coverage areas not seen in its two preceding plans such as chronic conditions coverage, eye examination and glasses coverage, and more.
Allianz Care
Allianz Care offers three main health insurance plans to choose from, namely the Allianz Care plan, the Allianz Care Plus plan, and the Allianz Care Pro plan. These plans are uniquely made with flexibility in mind, catering to expats and their families, as well as businesses.
The Allianz Care plan offers the basic benefits for expats living overseas while the Care Plus plan elevates the benefits package and the Allianz Care Pro plan is the most comprehensive plan out of the three. Below are each of Allianz Care’s plans and their corresponding maximum plan limits:
- Allianz Care Plan: $2,500,000
- Allianz Care Plus Plan: $4,000,000
- Allianz Care Pro Plan: $5,000,000
April International
April International’s health insurance plans, offered through the MyHealth International plans, consist of five tiers of coverage. These five tiers of coverage under April International’s MyHealth plans include the following:
- Emergency plan
- Formule Basic
- Essential plan
- Comfort
- Premium plan
The Emergency plan features an annual benefits limit of €250,000 while Formule Basic’s and Essential’s are €500,000 and €1,000,000, respectively, and both the Comfort and Premium plans are unlimited.
IMG
IMG Global’s international health insurance plans, provided via a Global Medical Plan, are available in four different levels of coverage. These include the Bronze plan, the Silver plan, the Gold plan, and the Platinum plan. Lifetime limits vary across plans and the maximum limit is $8,000,000.
Notable benefits of these plans include customizable and worldwide coverage (along with the option of excluding the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, and Taiwan), emergency medical evacuation assistance, quality member support, and prescription medication coverage.
NOW Health
International health insurance plans from NOW Health International offer coverage for expats, including families, along with students, employees, and employers worldwide. Expats have the option of selecting worldwide coverage options between including or excluding the US.
Some notable reasons why expats choose NOW Health’s plans include transparent communication, service-minded advisors ready to assist them with patience and care, straightforward processes, and hassle-free claims filing.
Geoblue
Geoblue offers both long and short-term options for health insurance plans with their Xplorer plan providing long-term international health insurance. Their Xplorer plan comes in two types, namely the essential and premier variations.
These types of plans are uniquely designed for expats traveling from the United States for work, studying, or just general purposes and expats also have the option of choosing worldwide coverage options with or without the US.
Blue Cross
Blue Cross is a subsidiary of AIA Group Limited and was internationally recognized in the health insurance industry thanks to its innovative approach to interacting with clients across Asia. Blue Cross also features numerous comprehensive plans for individuals and businesses alike.
What’s more, Blue Cross also maintains a strong emphasis on providing the highest quality service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need health insurance in Hong Kong?
Health insurance isn’t necessarily a requirement in Hong Kong but because healthcare abroad may be more expensive in comparison to your home country we strongly urge you to secure international health insurance anyway.
What is the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance?
Travel insurance is designed for short-term coverage for individuals and families who travel overseas for a certain time. On the other hand, international health insurance is designed for individuals and families who intend to live, work, or study overseas for the foreseeable future.
Does international health insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Depending on the selected insurer, they may either exclude any pre-existing condition coverage, put you on a moratorium or waiting period before re-evaluating your pre-existing conditions for coverage, or they will cover said conditions but with higher premiums.
Conclusion
As you can see, long-term international insurance takes what was already well-offered with short-term travel insurance and expands on it by granting longer durations of coverage for individuals, including families, living overseas for an extended period.
With so many insurers to choose from, each offering different benefits, expats can ensure maximum coverage and peace of mind not just for themselves, but also for their families, knowing their well-being is in good hands and their finances are kept safe.
As an international health insurance broker with more than 20 years of experience, Pacific Prime has helped both expats and local citizens select suitable health insurance plans that not only match their budget but also their unique healthcare needs.
Whether you’re an expat in Hong Kong or a local citizen yourself, we are more than happy to help you out with completely impartial advice available to you at no additional cost. If you have any further questions or if you’d like to compare plans, please get in touch with us or get a free quote.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in our guide to The Best Private Hospitals in Hong Kong or The 20 Best Places To Live In Hong Kong For Expats.
Serena earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. As such, she is an avid advocate of mental health and is fascinated by all things psychology (especially if it’s cognitive psychology!).
Her previous work experience includes teaching toddlers to read, writing for a travel/wellness online magazine, and then a business news blog. These combined experiences give her the skills and insights she needs to explain complex ideas in a succinct way. Being the daughter of an immigrant and a traveler herself, she is passionate about educating expats and digital nomads on travel and international health insurance.
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