Choosing your health insurance cover is typically influenced by factors like price, deductibles and group insurance discount through your employers.

With Hong Kong having some of the highest fees worldwide for private health insurance, it’s worth investing in an insurer that truly meets your needs, rather than paying for insurance, and then on top of that paying independently for the services you actually use, like naturopathy, counselling, osteopathy, TCM and acupuncture.

The good news is, there are health insurers out there that cover holistic medicine.

Alea are on a mission to empower you to find the right health insurance, with unbiased information and advice. Their insurers cover holistic medicine as well as more traditional services.

Here’s our collaborative breakdown of the insurance providers that cover holistic medicine and their benefits

Insurance provider & plan		Services covered
Allianz – Care Pro		Osteopathy, Homeopathy, Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture: Up to 12 sessions per conditions Psychiatry and Psychotherapy: Up to 20 visits (18 months waiting period)
April Hong Kong – Elite		Osteopathy, TCM, acupuncture, alternative medicine (homoeopaths): Up to HKD 1,723 per visit and combined limit of HKD 39,169 per year Psychiatry/psychology: Up to HKD 39,169
AXA Global Health – Prestige Plus		Osteopathy: Not covered TCM and acupuncture: Up to HKD 1,253 each session (max. 15 sessions per year) Alternative medicine: Up to 35 sessions per year Psychiatry/psychology: Up to 30 sessions per year
Bupa Asia – Deluxe Pro (VHIS Plan)		Osteopathy: Not covered TCM and acupuncture: Fully covered in the insurer network and HKD 600 per visit (max. 40 visits) for other establishment Alternative medicine (eg. homoeopaths): HKD 1,200 per visit osteopathy treatment for muscles, bones and joints only Psychiatry/psychology: Fully covered for psychiatric related treatments within insurer network including Medically Necessary Western Medication, diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests prescribed by a psychiatrist only ; Up to HKD 1,200 per visit for other establishment including wester/chinese medicines, acupuncture, diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests.
Bupa Global – Ultimate		Osteopathy, TCM, acupuncture, alternative medicine (homoeopaths) and Psychiatrist/Psychologist: Fully covered
Cigna – Health First Elite 360		Osteopathy: Up to HKD 800 per visit ($1,600 and 5 visits per Policy Year) TCM and alternative medicine : Up to HKD 800 per visit (10 visits per Policy Year) Psychiatry/psychology: Up to HKD 800 per visit (5 visits per Policy Year)
Cigna Global – Platinum		Osteopathy, TCM, acupuncture, alternative medicine (homoeopaths) and Psychiatrist/Psychologist: Covered
FWD – vPrime		TCM: Not covered Alternative medicine: Not covered Osteopathy: Not covered Psychiatry/psychology: Not covered
Henner – Prestige		Osteopathy, TCM and homoeopaths: Up 20 sessions (Max HKD 1,410/session) Psychiatrist: Up to HKD 1,958/visit (max 10 visits) Psychologist: Up to HKD 1,175/visit (max 10 visits)
Morgan price – Elite		TCM and Acupuncture : Up to USD 15,667 Alternative medicine : Not covered Osteopath: Not Covered Psychiatrist: Up to 30 visits (Referral letter required by physician)
NowHealth – WorldCare Apex		Osteopathy, TCM, acupuncture and alternative medicine (homoeopaths): Covered Psychiatry/psychology: Up to HKD 54,836 per period of cover and subject to a maximum of 20 sessions per Period of Cover

Naturopathy

You can think of naturopaths as the GPs of natural medicine. They’re your first port of call, and can create a personalised health plan to treat your concern or meet your health goals.

They can also point you to integrated services that will support your healing, and may make connections that traditional western doctors often won’t for multi-faceted support.

Naturopathic services covered by your insurance cover can include everything from testing to clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, detox, lifestyle plans, supplement prescription costs and more. The services are available to those of all ages from babies to adults.

Osteopathy

From sports injuries to boosting your athletic potential, or supporting you during pregnancy, our osteopaths help boost your physical and mental wellbeing.

They focus on the musculoskeletal system, joints, soft tissues and muscles, optimising blood flow, while relieving tension in order to improve mobility and help your body heal.

Cranial osteopathy is another branch of osteopathy which works with the cranium. Practitioners assess and soothe the rhythm of the cranial system, boosting the health of your nervous system for better emotional wellbeing.

Osteopathy and cranial osteopathy are covered by some insurers and support is available for all ages.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy works on the principle of like cures like. Our homeopaths find truly personalised remedies by taking into account your specific set of symptoms and your personal constitution – both of which will guide them to the right homeopathic remedy.

Insurance covers appointments with practitioners and prescriptions. This service is safe and effective for people of all ages, including children.

Psychology & psychotherapy

For a long time, insurance covering mental health services was limited – luckily this has changed. As well as offering psychiatric inpatient care, many international and comprehensive insurers offer outpatient coverage for therapy sessions.

Many insurers offer full coverage up to 20 sessions per year, which equates to once every 2 weeks. For the full details of mental health coverage, check out Alea’s full report.

TCM & acupuncture

In Hong Kong, between 15% and 20% of our population use Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors, and between 50% and 60% of us have consulted one at least once.

Some insurers will cover both TCM and acupuncture; modalities which support a range of health conditions, from anxiety to joint pain, pregnancy and immunity.

TCM services cover herbal remedies, acupuncture, massage, nutrition, moxibustion and cupping.

Coinsurance

Coinsurance is available for outpatient services like holistic medicine. It’s a cost sharing strategy that means you will cover a percentage of your bill, and your insurer pays the rest. This percentage is pre-agreed and stays the same, regardless of the value of your claim.

Coinsurance usually varies between 10% and 30%.

A 10% coinsurance rate means that you pay 10% and your insurer pays the remaining 90%.

Having a lower coinsurance may mean your yearly premium is higher, but if you frequently use outpatient services, then it may be worthwhile. If you infrequently use these services, then it may make more financial sense to pay a lower premium and higher % coinsurance.

Learn the details of coinsurance and deductibles with Alea.

Round up

Here’s a cheat sheet for the insurers mentioned and the services they cover.

Insurer	Alternative Medicine	TCM / Acupuncture	Osteopathy	Psychiatry / Psycology
Allianz	✔	✔	✔	✔
April Hong Kong	✔	✔	✔	✔
AXA	✔	✔	Χ	✔
Bupa Asia	✔	✔	Χ	✔
Bupa Global	✔	✔	✔	✔
Cigna	✔	✔	✔	✔
CIgna Global	✔	✔	✔	✔
FWD	Χ	Χ	Χ	Χ
Henner	✔	✔	✔	✔
Morgan Price	Χ	✔	Χ	✔
NowHealth	✔	✔	✔	✔

In Summary

If you tend to use holistic healthcare, you can find insurance providers who will cover you for the services you love most.

Find the right service for you with Alea.