Navigating the unforeseen: the power of hospital cash insurance plans

In Hong Kong, there has been a recent spike in traffic accidents. In the span of just a month, two significant incidents occurred. One involved a truck overturning in Tin Shui Wai, leading to severe damaged to the vehicle and the driver trapping and injuring his foot. In the other, a minibus was involved in three separate hit-and-run incidents in Yuen Long, leaving three people injured.

Unfortunately, no-one can predict when an accident will happen. Worse still, being hospitalised as a result of an accident can put a strain on your finances. This is not just due to medical and hospitalisation bills. It is also because being confined to a hospital hampers your ability to work. Ultimately, hospitalisation affects your income and creates additional financial burdens for your family. Households whose breadwinner is stuck in a hospital bed can find themselves in a dire “no-work, no-pay” scenario. And for individuals seeking peace of mind during their recovery, one must ponder: how can the financial burden brought about by hospitalisation be alleviated?

While many health insurance policies cover medical, hospitalisation and surgical expenses, it’s important to note that insurers usually follow a policy of reimbursement of the expense itself, and often don’t cover personal income loss. 

To address this, many insurance companies provide hospital cash insurance plans, which offer cash allowances based on the length of a hospital stay, thus covering income loss during hospitalisation. This allows policyholders to manage their funds more flexibly and effectively in times of need.

For instance, if an insured person has a hospital cash insurance plan providing HK$1,500 per day and that person is hospitalised for 14 days, they will receive total compensation of HK$21,000. This fund helps to offset any income lost during their absence from work and helps cover daily expenses.

If you purchase a hospital cash insurance plan, it is crucial that you get to grips with its scope of coverage for comprehensive protection. These types of plans have varying validities, ranging from 300 to over 700 days. Some plans even offer double or triple cash benefits in cases of severe accidents, such as those requiring ICU admission or extensive treatment for severe burns. This ensures that long-term hospitalised patients receive the necessary financial support and protection, allowing them to focus on recovery without worry.

Also, to enhance the competitiveness of plans with hospital cash benefits, some insurers have expanded their coverage to include inpatient and outpatient surgical costs, as well as accidental medical expenses. This often includes general and specialist outpatient services, physiotherapy and chiropractic treatments, and emergency medical transportation for accidents happening abroad, so policyholders receive 24-hour global support.

Many insurance companies also offer no-claims premium rebates and will return a percentage of the paid premiums if the insured doesn’t make a claim within a specified period.

Dual protection for unforeseen hospitalisation ensures that, should you need to undergo treatment or surgery, hospital cash insurance will provide a daily cash allowance to mitigate the economic impact of being unable to work.

Moreover, if you already have health insurance, you can claim medical expenses from your health plan in tandem with the hospital cash insurance, extending a second layer of protection and providing a solid safety net for the future.

This Chinese version of this article was published in the Hong Kong Economics Journal 

If you have any queries regarding Hospital Cash Insurance Plans, please feel free to contact us or find out more about our insurance plans:

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Read more: How would you cope if you were suddenly hospitalised?

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