Only 33% of Macau insurances cover Chinese medicine

Over half identified high medical costs as a barrier to medical freedom.

In Macau, 98% of residents are concerned about achieving medical freedom, higher than the overall Greater Bay Area (GBA) (94%), mainland GBA cities (92%), and Hong Kong (93%), Prudential Hong Kong's Macau Medical Freedom Survey revealed.

The survey also revealed that Macau respondents value services like Chinese medicine, second medical opinions, and global drug searches. However, only 33%, 29%, and 17% of their current medical insurance plans cover these services, much lower than coverage in mainland GBA cities and Hong Kong. 

This indicates a gap between the medical needs of Macau residents and their existing insurance plans.

Over half (55%) of respondents identified high medical costs as a barrier to medical freedom. In Macau, 49% of respondents are particularly worried about rising medical expenses, anticipating an 18.2% increase over the next decade, compared to 14.3% in mainland GBA cities and 17.7% in Hong Kong. 

To address this, 56% of Macau respondents plan to rely on government aid, compared to 31% of GBA respondents overall.

The survey found that 86% of respondents in the GBA define "medical freedom" as the ability to choose medical resources like hospitals, doctors, and medicine. 

On average, GBA respondents believe MOP$5.7m ($710k) is needed to attain medical freedom. 

Macau respondents estimate they will need MOP$5.6m, roughly 16 years of household income. In comparison, respondents in mainland GBA cities and Hong Kong project thresholds of around MOP$4.7m ($590k) and MOP$6.9m ($863k), respectively.

($1.00 = RMB7.15 = HK$7.79)