A recent survey released by the Macau branch of Prudential Insurance Company of the United Kingdom showed that nearly half of the respondents (49%) were worried about a sharp increase in medical costs.
The poll found that Macau residents expect medical costs to rise by 18.2 percent in the next 10 years, higher than the 14.3 percent in mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and 17.7 percent in Hong Kong.
More than half (56%) of local respondents said they planned to use government assistance to cope with rising medical costs over the next decade, compared with only 31% of respondents in the Greater Bay Area.
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David David, general manager of Prudential Macao, said: “Thanks to government subsidies for medical services, Macau residents are more inclined to use public resources to pay for future medical expenses compared with residents of mainland Greater Bay Area cities and Hong Kong.”
At the same time, Macau residents said they value services such as traditional Chinese medicine, second medical opinions and global drug searches, but currently only 33%, 29% and 17% of Macau residents’ medical insurance plans cover these services, far lower than the coverage rates of respondents in the Greater Bay Area cities and Hong Kong.
“This reflects that there is a large gap between the medical needs of Macau residents and their existing insurance plans,” Prudential said.
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