Introducing voluntary private health insurance in a mixed medical economy: are Hong Kong citizens willing to subscribe?

Abstract

BackgroundStruggling to correct the public-private imbalance in its health care system, the Hong Kong SAR Government seeks to introduce a government-regulated voluntary health insurance scheme, or VHIS, a distinctive financing instrument that combines the characteristics of private insurance with strong government regulation. This study examines citizens’ responses to the new scheme and their willingness to subscribe.MethodsFirst-hand data were collected from a telephone survey that randomly sampled 1793 Hong Kong adults from September 2014 to February 2015. Univariate and multivariate methods were employed in data analysis.ResultsMore than one third of the respondents explicitly stated intention of subscribing to the VHIS, a fairly high figure considering the scheme’s voluntary nature. Multivariate analysis revealed moderate evidence of adverse selection, defined as individuals’ opportunistic behaviors when making insurance purchasing decision based on their own assessment of risks or likelihood of making a claim.ConclusionThe excellent performance of Hong Kong’s public medical system has had two parallel impacts. On the one hand, high-risk residents, particularly the uninsured, do not face a pressing need to switch out of the overloaded public system despite its inadequacies; this, in turn, may reduce the impact of adverse selection that may lead to detrimental effects to the insurance market. On the other hand, high satisfaction reinforces the interests of those who have both the need for better services and the ability to pay for supplementary insurance. Furthermore, the high-risk population demonstrates a moderate interest in the insurance despite the availability of government subsidies. This may offset the intended effect of the reform to some extent.

Status of public–private partnership recognition and willingness to pay for private health care in China

“…On the one hand, the high‐risk residents, particularly the uninsured, do not need to switch out of the overloaded public system, despite its inadequacy; thus, the high‐risk population demonstrates a moderate interest in insurance, despite the availability of government subsidies. On the other hand, high satisfaction reinforces the interests of those who have the need for better services and the ability to pay for supplementary insurance …”

“…In addition, strengthening individuals' awareness of the key role in the self-management of health care and increasing medical insurance funds to cover more of the screening programs, especially in rural areas and for low-income families, may be an effective means to increase screening attendance. 29 3.1.3 | Whether the Chinese are willing to pay for health insurance In 37 highly relevant and extensively reviewed papers, seven papers studied how the Chinese are willing to pay for health-related insurance. The papers include the WTP for LTCI, voluntary private health insurance, MCDI, IEI, OEI, BHI for informal sector workers, and HII.…”

“…On the other hand, high satisfaction reinforces the interests of those who have the need for better services and the ability to pay for supplementary insurance. 30 In another household survey conducted in four small cities in China, 2671 individuals were asked about their WTP for MCDI, IEI, and OEI. The results asserted that 48.5% and 43.0% people would like to buy IEI and MCDI, respectively, while much less (24.5%) would like to buy OEI.…”

Impact of travel ban implementation on COVID-19 spread in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea during the early phase of the pandemic: a comparative study

“…Updated profile on Korea was obtained from news sites due to the absence of updated 2019 population census [29][30][31]. Data on air traffic [32][33][34][35], doctor per 1000 population ratio [36][37][38][39], medical coverage [40][41][42], Human Development Index [43,44], Gross Domestic Product [45], Global Health Security Index [46], Joint External Evaluation [47,48] scores, prior pandemic experience with Cases recorded during each phase were tabulated for mere comparison of epidemic progression in each country, and should not be attributed to the restriction implemented at the start of the phase as cases mostly present themselves after an incubation period of up to 14 days & Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1-2009) figures accurate as of the following date for each country: Singapore (Unknown), Taiwan (31 July 2010), Hong Kong (19 May 2010), South Korea (August 2010) # As of 2019 % Latest available information used; Singapore (2018), Taiwan (2016), South Korea (2017) $ While we did not find any travel ban or restriction implemented by South Korea against Italy/Iran, the government did raise the travel alert for 5 Italian provinces to "yellow" warning *Table interpretation: countries studied are listed in columns while countries/regions listed in rows are the epicentres for which travel bans were implemented against. The first section of the table compares the socio-economic profile and pandemic experience of the countries.…”

Impact of Travel Ban Implementation on COVID-19 Spread in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea During the Early Phase of the Pandemic: a Comparative Study.

“…Updated pro le on Korea was obtained from news sites due to the absence of updated 2019 population census [29][30][31]. Data on air tra c [32][33][34][35], doctor per 1,000 population ratio [36][37][38][39], medical coverage [40][41][42], Human Development Index [43,44], Gross Domestic Product [45], Global Health Security Index [46], Joint External Evaluation [47,48] scores, prior pandemic experience with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome were also reviewed [49][50][51][52].…”