The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has welcomed the issuance of the Best Practice on Standardising Underwriting Questionnaire for individual indemnity hospital insurance plans by the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI) today (October 6).
 
     The Standardised Underwriting Questionnaire (SUQ) defines the scope of health-related information that consumers are required to disclose when applying for individual indemnity hospital insurance coverage, and adopts simplified wording and a standardised format for easier comprehension by consumers.
 
     A spokesman for the FHB said, "We have provided several rounds of comments to the HKFI on the SUQ at its drafting stage, and are glad to note that the issuance of the SUQ aligns with the objectives of the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) in strengthening consumer protection and increasing market transparency."
 
     The spokesman added, "We encourage VHIS providers to start adopting the SUQ. After end-2021, all VHIS providers will be mandated to adopt the SUQ in obtaining health‑related information when handling new and migration applications for VHIS certified plans."
 
     The VHIS is part of the FHB's effort in maintaining the public-private balance among other important policy initiatives. The VHIS seeks to regulate the individual indemnity hospital insurance products and improve market transparency, providing consumers with greater confidence in purchasing health insurance and using private healthcare services when in need, thereby alleviating pressure on public hospital services in the long run.

Ends/Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Issued at HKT 16:05

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