{"id":1664,"date":"2018-07-02T14:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T06:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/blog\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2018-06-27T16:21:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T08:21:15","slug":"major-medical-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/blog\/major-medical-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Major medical insurance: What exactly is it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might have heard this phrase before from a friend, HR manager or even your broker, and assumed that it\u2019s just the name for the comprehensive and expensive medical plan? In reality, major medical insurance is an alternative term for inpatient, or hospital health insurance plans. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major medical plans are designed to cover expensive medical care incurred in injuries and ongoing medical issues like cancer. Think of major medical plans as a product that can cover all major diseases and accidents. This term is commonly used in corporate health insurance schemes, or a term to define an extension to an existing company-sponsored insurance policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/compare-quotes\/step-one\/?campSource=PPHK-Blog&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=content_banner&utm_campaign=Blog_Banner&utm_content=single\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1644\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.hk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/WP-Banner-revamp-final-20221207_1.-Single-final.jpg?resize=700%2C303&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Individual Health Insurance Plans\" width=\"700\" height=\"303\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What types of benefits does major medical plans usually cover? <\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Major medical plans, or inpatient plans, are designed to cover the costs of hospitalization up to the plan\u2019s coverage limits. Common costs covered by major medical plans include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ambulance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intensive care room<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Room and board fees (private, semi-private, wards)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surgery fees and surgical appliances<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anesthetist charges<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medicines provided throughout the hospitalization period<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lab tests, X-rays, MRI, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note that major medical plans typically do not cover treatments that are not deemed \u201cmedically necessary\u201d, such as dental, optical, elective cosmetic surgery and infertility treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insurance plans differ, so it&#8217;s very important that you are well aware of what you are covered for, and what the coverage limits and plan exclusions are. It\u2019s a good idea to seek professional advice from insurance brokers, such as Pacific Prime\u2019s advisors, that will advise you on all the options for free. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why should everyone have a major medical plan? <\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A major medical plan is usually the basic feature of most health insurance plans. It is most likely that your employer will insure you for the basic inpatient benefits, but may not offer the extension of the plan for your family members, or the coverage may be very low. Below you can find three most important reasons on why you should have a major medical insurance with higher annual limits in Hong Kong: \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reason 1: The cost of private hospitalization in Hong Kong. \u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hospitalization and surgery costs can be enormous. While we like to think that such situations won&#8217;t happen to us, statistically, most people will need inpatient care at least 1 to 3 times during their lifetime. Costs of one small operation can be way higher than all the insurance premiums you would ever pay. Let\u2019s have a look at some of the service charges in Hong Kong\u2019s private hospitals:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Intensive care ward\/unit<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> costs can be as much as HKD 15,350 per day.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inpatient medical <\/span><b>attendance\/consultation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (per specialty) ranges from HKD 680 to HKD 2,780 per visit with the exclusion of other charges such as doctors and nurses fees, meals, etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>private room<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with the exclusions of other charges such as doctor\u2019s and nurse\u2019s fees, meals, can be as high as HKD 6,600 per day. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A full list of private hospital charges can be found under <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www3.ha.org.hk\/fnc\/Operations.aspx?lang=ENG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this link.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reason 2: Increased occurrence of lifestyle diseases. <\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lifestyle diseases are associated with the way a person or group lives and is also referred to as diseases of civilization. These diseases develop over time and some of the factors that cause them are stress, alcohol, and smoking, as well as lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. You may not even know when you have developed one of the asymptomatic diseases such as high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and many others that might require acute and sudden emergency medical care.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reason 3: Unforeseen accidents and injuries.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the name suggests, unforeseen and unexpected accidents can happen anytime, anywhere; at work, during holidays, or even at home. Since you can\u2019t possibly predict any of these situations, it\u2019s crucial to have a medical plan that will cover emergency costs, as they can exhaust even the biggest of budgets.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to choose or upgrade your major medical insurance plan? <\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check your current medical policy first.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may already have good coverage in place, but it\u2019s still worth checking potential medical costs vs your policy limits. You should see if you might need an upgrade, or if your circumstances have changed and you need to add family members to your existing major medical plan. Don\u2019t have time to check the policy limits vs actual costs of the hospital charges? <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/contact-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chat with our insurance advisors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> about your needs and they\u2019ll advise you on the best option for you. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does your plan cover you internationally? <\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We would often advise our clients to choose an international medical plan if they travel either for pleasure or for business more than 3 months a year. The international medical plan covers you depending on your chosen region, either worldwide including the USA or excluding the USA. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Local plans usually have limitations via hospital and doctor\u2019s networks, and their benefit limits may also be significantly lower than that of international medical plans. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does the plan cover pre-existing conditions?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Insurers usually won\u2019t cover pre-existing conditions, but all hope is not lost! Some plans offer different insurance options for their clients, depending on the pre-existing condition and overall medical history of the policyholder. Quite often, you can add certain benefits and upgrade your current major medical plan, and we\u2019ll gladly help you with that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pacific Prime advisors have years of insurance experience and have helped over 100,000 people worldwide with their medical insurance plans, renewals, claims processing &#8211; as well as changes in coverage. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/contact-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contact us today<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a free comparison of plans from top insurance companies, as well as a free price quote!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><div class='code-block code-block-6' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.hk\/compare-quotes\/step-one\/?campSource=PPHK-Blog&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=cta_banner&utm_campaign=Blog_Banner&utm_content=quote\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1279\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.hk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/HK-BANNER-Couple.jpg?resize=700%2C303&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Get a quote banner\" width=\"700\" height=\"303\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might have heard this phrase before from a friend, HR manager or even your broker, and assumed that it\u2019s just the name for the comprehensive and expensive medical plan? In reality, major medical insurance is an alternative term for inpatient, or hospital health insurance plans. Major medical plans are designed to cover expensive medical &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Major medical insurance is the answer to your major medical bills. 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