Insurance seminar on critical illness and family financial planning

Insurance plays an important role in financial planning. It gives people some financial protection and coverage against unforeseen incidents and other risks in life.

In collaboration with The University of Hong Kong, School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE) and The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (HKFI), the IEC held the Insurance Education Seminar Series on 6 September 2014 to help raise public awareness of the importance of insurance in critical illness and family financial planning.

At the seminar, Dr So Kar Kui, a specialist in geriatric medicine and rehabilitation and the speaker of the session “Dealing with Critical Illness, outlined the trend of major illnesses in Hong Kong and detailed the rehabilitation for some illnesses such as strokes.

Mr To Mun Chi, whose brother suffered a stroke at young age, also shared the rehabilitation journey of his sibling as well as the challenges that his family are facing.

According to the research of HKFI, the average inpatient/surgery expenses could range from a few thousand to about HKD80,000, depending on the complexity of surgical operations. Such amount however does not include the cost for long-term care and rehabilitation.

The financial burden could be reduced by choosing appropriate medical insurance, said Mr Terry Tsang, Chairman of Medical Insurance Association of HKFI. He reminded the public to enrol for the appropriate medical insurance plan when in good health and to read the policy terms thoroughly after enrolment.

The seminar also discussed the importance of insurance in family financial planning there were about 150 participants attending the event.

Caption:

  1. Dr So Kar Kui explained the latest trend of major illnesses in Hong Kong.
  2. Mr Terry Tsang (Left) talked about the differences between medical insurance and critical illness insurance. Mr To Mun Chi (Right) shared how critical illness insurance could help alleviate the financial burden of his family.
  3. Dr Sylvia Doo, a specialist in paediatrics, shared the characteristics of different stages in child’s development in the session “Growing with Our Children”.
  4. Speakers discussed the importance of insurance in family financial planning. From left to right: Dr Ringo Chan, the Associate Head of College of Business and Finance, Senior Programme Director of HKU SPACE, Ms Charity Au, a committee member of Life Insurance Council of HKFI, and Mr Alex Ma, a member of parent-teacher association of a local secondary school.