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FWD Insurance Hong Kong has released a new product covering mental illnesses such as anxiety and mild depression, filling a gap in mental healthcare in the market.
FWD, which is controlled by tycoon Richard Li, revealed its Mind+ critical illness plan that covers around 60 severe ailments, including 10 types of mental illnesses. A report by South China Morning Post stated that FWD is the first insurer in Hong Kong to release such a product.
According to Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority, the new private medical plan can help reduce the burden on the city’s public mental healthcare system, which only has 330 psychiatrists. This means that there are only 4.5 psychiatrists for every 100,000 people.
Research by the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that around one-seventh of the city’s population, or one million individuals, suffers from mental illnesses, with mixed anxiety and depression being the most common.
However, the reimbursement from Mind+ is usually at just 10-50% for mental conditions, compared with the usual 100% for physical diseases.
“We usually see an average reimbursement rate of 25% for mental illnesses, since they tend to be diagnosed as early stages diseases,” an agent at Prudential Hong Kong told SCMP.
“People should also know the limitations of such insurance products since they are still very new,” added Chan Kin-por, chairman of the Finance Committee in the Legislative Council.
