Six out of ten Hongkongers suffer from "three highs"!
Zurich launches first-in-Hong Kong medical insurance targeting "three highs"

According to research, six out of ten Hong Kong individuals suffer from at least one of the conditions of "three highs", including high cholesterol, hypertension or high blood sugar (diabetes)¹. You may already know someone who fall victim to these health issues. People in Hong Kong dine out very often which may lead to excessive consumption of oil and salt. Meanwhile, it is also challenging for them to get enough sleep and exercises owing to their busy lifestyle. That is why the "three highs" conditions have become one of the lifestyle diseases in Hong Kong. Although common, these health issues may cause the onset of various fatal complications, such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, diabetic eye or foot. These are illnesses that individuals cannot afford to ignore. Upon observing great market need, Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong) introduced HealthAngel Medical Insurance Plan ("HealthAngel") in July—a first-in-Hong Kong medical insurance plan that offers protection inclusive of the "three highs" conditions with an annual limit of up to HKD 8,000,000², helping you cope with medical inflation.

As one of its premier features, HealthAngel offers free annual medical checkup, giving you an overview of your current health state regarding "three highs" conditions. In the unfortunate event that you are diagnosed with one of the "three highs" conditions, you will be entitled to a benefit of HKD 5,500 for outpatient treatment³. The doctor’s consultation fees, costs of prescribed drugs and laboratory tests incurred as outpatient will be reimbursed under the policy benefits. Most medical insurance plans in the market only provide hospitalization benefits and do not cover any medical expenses incurred without hospitalization or surgery. You will need to spend over a thousand dollars to purchase an additional outpatient insurance rider. In fact, with proper treatment and monitoring, people who suffer from "three highs" conditions do not necessarily need to be hospitalized. HealthAngel bridges this protection gap. It covers the consultation and monitoring fee incurred as outpatient benefits without hospitalization. If the insured person is diagnosed with complications of "three highs" conditions, he/she will have an additional coverage for Chinese medicine, dietician, acupuncture, massage therapy charges, etc. What’s more? HealthAngel even covers home modification costs, helping the patient combat the disease on different fronts⁴.

Apart from "three highs" conditions, HealthAngel also covers a range of hospitalization expenses. According to the statistics of Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, the hospitalization expenses in Hong Kong rose 7% annually⁵. Owing to the advancement in medical science, some diseases which were deemed terminal have become chronic diseases. For instance, with the help of target therapy, cancer patient can sustain their life longer. The higher the medical cost and the longer the treatment takes, the more we need to save for the future to cope with our medical needs. HealthAngel provides up to HKD 8,000,000 hospitalization benefits. Medical expenses such as target therapy for cancer, chemotherapy or kidney dialysis as outpatient will also be covered under the HKD 8,000,000 annual benefits. It has no classification of surgeries (even appendectomy will be covered up to HKD 8,000,000 as long as the medical expense is necessary and reasonable), no sublimit on each item (e.g. no sublimit for daily room and board coverage) and no restriction on choice of doctor, which together provide a more comprehensive and flexible protection.

With surging medical costs, even in public hospitals, some treatments such as the stent for balloon angioplasty or specific target therapy drugs are not free of charge. HealthAngel offers multiple protection covering the outpatient medical expenses of common lifestyle diseases as well as in-hospital treatment expenses. No one wants to cope with medical expenses. However, keeping good sleeping habits, avoiding work stress, regular exercise and healthy diet are easier said than done. Even people with healthy lifestyles are not immune to diseases, giving us more reasons to be prepared for the unexpected before any of the "three highs" conditions appears.


¹Source: Cardiovascular Risk Community Screening Pilot Project, 2010, Hong Kong Medical Association – Hong Kong East Community Network.
²Subject to an overall lifetime limit of HKD 30,000,000.
³The Three Highs benefits and free medical checkup are only applicable to insured person enrolled at or before age 65.
⁴For details of designated complications of three highs conditions, alternative treatment and home modification benefits, please refer to the product brochure.
⁵Source: The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, Medical Claims Statistics 2014.