FWD launches vPrime advanced VHIS plan to provide full medical coverage and tailor made rehabilitation support

Coverage up to HK$8 million annually with deductible options and up to 25% no claim premium discounts

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 11 May 2020 - FWD Hong Kong ("FWD") has launched vPrime Medical Plan ("vPrime"), an advanced Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme ("VHIS") flexi-plan certified by Hong Kong's Food and Health Bureau (see Table 1 for Certification Numbers). vPrime offers full coverage, i.e. no itemised sub-limits, on medical expenses incurred for hospitalisation and surgery, a suite of rehabilitation support including extra care for stroke survivors¹, as well as deductible options and no-claim premium discounts as high as 25% to boost flexibility and value for money.

Kelvin Yu, Chief Product Officer of FWD Hong Kong & Macau, said, "We want to enhance our customer experience with comprehensive and easy-to-use solutions that promote healthy lifestyles while meeting the market's need for high quality medical protection and benefits that also offer value for money. vPrime is built with deductible options and no-claim premium discounts to incentivise healthy living and encourage people to protect their families."

Extra care for stroke survivors and crises deductible waiver to help regain health

vPrime also comes with a suite of extra benefits and rehabilitation support¹ to help insured customers regain health. It brings extra care to stroke survivors by covering a series of stroke-related treatments and recovery services, including consultations, medical treatments prescribed by specialists and Chinese medicine practitioners, as well as reimbursement for home facility enhancements prescribed by occupational therapists. Stroke survivors are also entitled to a HK$10,000 disability subsidy per month for up to 24 months per incident.

The deductible of vPrime will be waived for treatments on designated crises including cancer, heart attack and stroke¹. Yu explained, "Cancer, heart diseases and stroke accounted for 89% of our processed critical illness insurance claims in 2018, so we want to help our customers more effectively by alleviating their financial and psychological burden from the often costly and prolonged crises treatments and rehabilitation."

No claim premium discounts to reward healthy living individuals and family members

vPrime rewards healthy living customers with as much as a 25% no-claim premium discount: If no claim is made for more than two consecutive policy years, a health discount of up to 15% will automatically be applied to the next renewal premium. What's more, for policyholders who also have policies with their specific relatives as the insured persons, they may be entitled to an additional no claim premium discount of up to 10% (see Tables 2.1 and 2.2) with their vPrime policies. Hong Kong taxpayers can save more money as the premiums paid for VHIS policies are tax deductible, up to HK$8,000 per insured person annually with no upper limit on the number of insured dependents².

Insured customers of vPrime are entitled to reimbursements for their eligible medical expenses up to a maximum of HK$8 million per policy year and up to HK$45 million per policy which is guaranteed renewable up to age 100. The plan comes with deductible options to boost premium flexibility. An insured customer can enjoy vPrime's comprehensive coverage with a daily premium as low as HK$9 (with deductibles of HK$50,000) or HK$29 without deductibles (see also Table 1). vPrime also bestows customers a one-time right to lower or remove the deductibles without providing further proof of their health condition.

The vPrime Medical Plan is underwritten by FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability). The above information does not contain the full terms and benefits of the policy, key product risks, and major exclusions. For details, terms and conditions of vPrime Medical Plan please refer to its product brochure and policy provisions downloadable at https://www.fwd.com.hk/en/protect/health-accident/vhis/vprime/. The premiums mentioned do not include levy which is collected by the Insurance Authority.

Notes:

1.  These are additional benefits/services which are not part of the terms and conditions of FWD's certified VHIS plans.

2.  For official information on VHIS including tax deduction, please visit https://www.vhis.gov.hk/en/about_us/index.html, and the websites of Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong (www.ird.gov.hk/eng/), and Hong Kong insurance authority (https://www.ia.org.hk/en).

Tables and Appendix

Table 1 -- vPrime Medical Plan's premium comparison among available deductible options (based on an insured person whose age becoming 30 at his/her next birthday)

Table 2.1 -- vPrime Medical Plan's No Claim Premium Discount for Individual

If the policyholder has not made any claim for 2 or more consecutive policy years, vPrime will offer him/her a discount of up to 15% on his/her next renewal premium as follows:

Table 2.2 -- vPrime Medical Plan's Extra No Claim Premium Discount for Families

For the policies held by a policyholder with him/herself and his/her specified relatives as the insured persons, vPrime offers extra no claim discounts on renewal premiums if the policyholder and his/her specified relatives have not made any claim for 2 or more consecutive policy years with details as follows:  

Appendix -- Complimentary add-ons further boosting value for money:

• PREMIER THE ONEcierge One Team Health Management¹: Insured customers of vPrime are entitled to an exclusive, one-stop healthcare management service covering second medical opinion, admission to over 130 top-notch medical institutions across the pan-Asia region including Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan with cashless facilities. The service helps to alleviate the administrative burden on the insured customers so that they can focus on receiving treatment and recovering.
• Complementary Newborn Care¹: The newborns of the insured customers of vPrime will automatically be entitled to complimentary protection of a designated medical plan for two full years. 
• Multiple Extra Benefits: To name a few are 'cash benefit for top-up subsidy' of HK$800 per day for maximum 60 days in each policy year, 'cash benefit for day case procedure' of HK$1,600 per operation, and respective death and accidental death coverage of HK$40,000 each.

About FWD Hong Kong & Macau

FWD Hong Kong offers life and medical insurance, general insurance, employee benefits, and financial planning. Its life insurance and general insurance operating entities have been assigned strong financial strength ratings by international rating agencies -- FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited (incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability) is rated "A3" by Moody's and "A" by Fitch; and FWD General Insurance Company Limited is rated "A" by Fitch. FWD Macau provides a suite of life and medical insurance.

FWD Hong Kong & Macau is a part of the FWD Group, the insurance business of investment group, Pacific Century Group. FWD Group spans Hong Kong & Macau, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and Malaysia.

By creating fresh customer experiences with easy-to-understand products supported by digital technology, FWD aims to become a leading pan-Asian insurer that changes the way people feel about insurance.