February 2015 Issue No. 220
New HKFI Members On behalf of the Governing Committee, I would like to extend a warm welcome to BE Reinsurance Limited and Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company as HKFI General Insurance Members. HKFI Annual Reception 2015 The HKFI Annual Reception will be held on Thursday, 16 April 2015 at 6:00 pm at the Garden Lounge of the Hong Kong Club. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Mr Matthew Cheung will be our principal Guest-of-Honour. We look forward to seeing you that evening. Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) Since the release of the Government's consultation document on the proposed VHIS, we have been busy meeting various stakeholders explaining the grave concerns of the industry and suggesting a practical and viable way forward. They included Legislative Councillors from various political parties as well as independent members, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong Medical Association, etc. On 6 February 2015, Deputy Chairman of our Task Force on Health Care Reform Ms Elaine Chan, Chairman of the Medical Insurance Association Mr Terry Tsang and General Committee Member of the Insurance Claims Complaints Bureau (ICCB) Mr Mike Lee attended the public hearing at the Legislative Council. They presented the industry's concerns on VHIS from various perspectives. Our submission to the Legislative Council is available at www.hkfi.org.hk/pdf/en/download/VHIS_20150212_E.pdf. On 9 February 2015, we organised an industry forum for 200 representatives of Member Companies and industry bodies. At this forum attended by Dr Ko Wing Man, Secretary for Food and Health, participants raised many good questions and comments and we had positive exchange of views. We are pleased to note that Dr Ko acknowledged the concerns of the industry and invited us to come up with practical solutions to improve the VHIS. On this, the Task Force on Health Care Reform is in the process of seeking Members' comments/input on how to modify the proposed scheme and make it commercially viable and sustainable. For a synopsis of the industry forum and the HKFI's presentation on its concerns on VHIS, please refer to Circular (Ref: Mv015/15).