Tax deductions would encourage more people to join the government's voluntary health insurance scheme, insurers say.

The idea emerged from a poll conducted by The Life Underwriters Association of Hong Kong last year. 'It's like two strings to the government's bow,' former association president Samuel Lau Kwok-ming said. 'A policy of tax breaks will provide one more channel to attract more participants to the scheme.'

The association in November polled 533 full-time employees aged over 25, of whom 70 per cent said they hoped for tax deductions for their premium payments. In Hong Kong, 22 per cent of residents already have private medical insurance, more than half of them aged 25 to 54. Of the respondents, 94 per cent now pay an annual premium of HK$30,000, including medical and critical illness insurance, while 90 per cent think a maximum of HK$60,000 each year would be 'reasonable' for the tax deduction.