Can't get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions? Employed people — seize the last chance

Recently a complainant contacted 10Life for help. The case stems from her being hospitalized for anemia more than 20 years ago; when she bought voluntary health insurance and a lifetime critical illness policy last year, the insurance agent, citing how long ago it was, told her she did not need to disclose it to the insurer. However, after the policies were purchased, the agent accessed her past medical records without authorization and instructed her to submit a recent medical examination report. As a result, on renewal she was charged a 50% premium loading, and anemia-related conditions will no longer be covered going forward. Faced with a nearly six-figure premium, the complainant was left with a huge budget shortfall.  

Insurance can indeed feel very contradictory: when you are young and healthy you don’t rush to buy coverage—after all, you have no illness and don’t want to waste premiums; when health problems appear and you want to buy insurance, you are turned away by insurers. Ultimately, “you should buy insurance while you’re young” — besides cheaper premiums, more importantly your medical record is “clean” when you’re young, so taking out health insurance is of course easier and more straightforward, and you naturally have more choices. However, once the opportunity is missed, you may face the dilemma of “wanting to buy but can’t afford it” or “able to buy but not covered.” To control risk, for situations where the applicant was already diagnosed, had obvious symptoms, or received related medical advice or treatment before applying, medical insurers typically add surcharges, delay coverage, or even refuse the application.

City dwellers have many common ailments, such as gout, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts (commonly known as “water tumors”), and so on. If the applicant already has related records at the time of application, insurers are very likely to list these conditions or organs as “exclusions,” meaning future hospitalization or treatment costs resulting from these diseases will not be compensated, and the applicant may also face higher premiums. 

If one has unfortunately suffered a critical illness, it becomes even more difficult to buy medical insurance after recovery. Although there are critical illness insurance products with multiple payouts on the market, and some critical illness plans are specifically designed for survivors, it is still very difficult for critical illness survivors to obtain reimbursement-based medical insurance at present, because insurers consider them very high-risk customers — their chances of disease recurrence, suffering after-effects, or developing other complications may be much higher than those of healthy people, and therefore many survivors are turned away by insurance companies.  

Are people who find it difficult to buy individual health insurance because of their health left without any protection? Group medical insurance (company health insurance) may be one of their few options. Company plans are usually offered on a "no underwriting" basis, so employees can obtain coverage during their employment even if they have a medical history. However, hospitalization and surgical limits under company plans are often relatively low, so many employees consider buying an additional "Top Up" policy on top of the company plan to increase coverage. Traditional Top Up policies often require the Top Up to be with the same insurer as the company plan, which limits choices. However, Bupa's "Bupa Easy Top-Up Medical Protection Plan" has recently launched a limited-time offer that can be applied for regardless of whether the applicant's existing company plan is underwritten by Bupa. The plan requires no underwriting and offers guaranteed lifelong renewability, so coverage can continue even if employment circumstances change. Without underwriting, insured persons can purchase enhanced "hospitalization and surgical benefits" and "additional medical benefits."

For those who missed the golden application period or cannot buy individual health insurance because of their medical history, this type of plan can be a solid and practical protection option. To learn more, feel free to contact a 10Life insurance advisor.

Further reading:
Compare AIA, Manulife and Prudential's best-selling multiple critical illness insurance
Old-style medical insurance not enough? Three ways to tackle rising healthcare costs in Hong Kong
[Smart, affordable medical insurance] Know how to buy health insurance — you can still fully claim on a large-ward plan

Last updated: 31 October 2025

This English version of this article has been generated by machine translation powered by AI. It is provided solely for reference purposes. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between this translation and the original Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.