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Changes To Our Health Insurance Products In Hong Kong For 2022/23

avatar - William Cooper

William Cooper

Marketing Director

Introduction

We’re pleased to share with you our new range of international health insurance products in Hong Kong for 2022/23.

Headline changes include:

  • 7.5% average premium inflation across membership portfolio
  • Revamped benefit for home nursing costs

These changes take effect for all existing members in Hong Kong with a renewal date of 01 March 2022 or later, and all new members purchasing a health plan with a start date of 01 March 2022 or later.

Benefit changes

We’ve made some changes to the benefit for home nursing care

In the 2021/22 health plans, we limited the benefit for home nursing care to a certain number of weeks. In the 2022/23 health plans, we’re limiting the benefit to a monetary value.

21/22 plans 22/23 plans
Bronze 12 weeks* US$5,000 or £3,330 or €3,750*
Silver 12 weeks* US$10,000 or £6,660 or €7,500*
Gold 12 weeks* US$15,000 or £10,000 or €11,250*

*Per medical condition per period of cover

We’re reducing the waiting period for the Dental Plus option

We’re reducing the waiting period on the Dental Plus option from 12 months to 10 months.

How we’ve developed our pricing model for health plans starting in 2022/23

Overview

We’re investing in our long-term pricing model for health insurance premiums. Our aim is to produce simpler pricing levers, fairer and more accurate premiums for members, and far more competitive premiums in our key markets.

Our work continues behind the scenes all year, and—in conjunction with our projects to digitise our insurance products and include innovative benefits—will power a compelling product suite for the coming years.

7.5% average premium inflation

From 2021/22 to 2022/23, the average premium inflation for members is 7.5%. We believe this increase is reasonable, particularly given the turbulence in the Hong Kong market over the last 12-24 months.

A reminder: the average premium inflation is an average. It doesn’t take into account age-related increases and, while some members will experience premium inflation, others will experience negative premium inflation.

Further changes to child discounts

We’re reducing the discount we give to second and subsequent children on health plans starting in 2022/23. The new discounts apply to both new members and renewing members.

22/23 plans 22/23 plans
First child 0% 0%
Second child 5% 5%
Third child onwards 7.5% 5%

We’re making further changes to the US$250 per annum excess

We’re continuing our long-term plan to normalise the discounts for the US$250 per annum excess. We’ve reduced the legacy discount for the US$250 per annum excess (see table below) to bring it closer to the discount for new members.

We’ve finished making changes to the exchange rate we use for legacy members paying in pounds sterling

We’ve normalised the premium exchange rate we use for legacy members paying in pounds sterling (GBP) with the premium exchange rate that new members use. 2022/23 is the last year that legacy members paying in pounds sterling will experience a sharp increase in their renewal premium.

Changes to excess discounts

The following excess discounts and loadings apply to health plans starting in 2022/23.

Bronze Silver Gold
Personal
Nil excess 3.50% 23.00% 24.00%
US$50 per claim n/a 11.00% 12.50%
Business
Nil excess 3.50% 11.50% 12.00%
US$50 per claim n/a 7.50% 8.00%
Per claim
US$100 n/a 4.50% 5.00%
US$800 -4.50% -11.50% -11.00%
US$1,600 -11.00% -20.00% -19.00%
US$10,000 -44.00% -46.00% -48.00%
Per annum
US$250 -0.50% -1.50% -2.00%
US$250 (legacy) -0.50% -3.00% -1.50%
US$500 -2.50% -5.00% -4.50%
US$1,000 -7.50% -12.00% -11.00%
US$5,000 -24.00% -34.00% -34.00%
US$10,000 -44.00% -49.00% -49.00%

We’re changing how we price the Dental Plus option (personal plans)

We’re halfway through a three-year plan to fix the pricing of the Dental Plus option on personal health plans. For health plans starting in 2022/23, we’re slightly increasing the price.

Changes to terms & conditions of the plan agreements

We’re making the following changes to the terms & conditions of health plans starting in 2022/23.

If a member joined William Russell before 01 January 2007 and they benefit from the No Claim Incentive

Members can no longer upgrade their cover under their health plan without losing their no claims discount. We’ve also added a clause into the agreement for the 2022/23 health plans whereby we reserve the right to make changes to the terms of the no claims discount in the future.

We’re no longer offering a 15% introductory discount for new members

We’re no longer discounting new members and businesses in Hong Kong who purchase a new plan after 28 February 2022.

We’ve added an exclusion for periodontic treatment

The 2022/23 health plans no longer cover members for periodontic treatment.

Want to learn more about our changes? Speak to our business development team

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