Hong Kong basketball players left with hefty medical bills, after city officials fail to buy enough insurance
- Players representing city at international events say they were forced to pay as much as HK$70,000 for their own medical care overseas
- Hong Kong Basketball Association chiefs admit buy insurance policy that limited individual claims for players to HK$10,000
Hong Kong basketball players say they have been left with tens of thousands of dollars worth of medical bills, because officials failed to secure adequate insurance for international events overseas.
Several players said they have been forced to pay for surgery and other expenses out of their own pockets, and were then told the Hong Kong Basketball Association’s insurance could not fully reimburse them.
The association said the governing body had acted in accordance with the government’s guidelines, but would review its policy going forwards in the hope “it would be better”.
Marco Leung Ka-hin broke his nose in Brisbane in July and as a result needed two separate operations costing more than HK$51,000, but months later the guard had still not been able to recoup the money, leaving him “helpless and worried”.
Leung said the association had told him to “seek medical help first and come back with invoices”, but officials had not said which doctor he should visit.
“I’ve asked the person in charge [at HKBA] four times from August to November [for an update] but all I was told was that it is an ongoing procedure, without further details,” the 23-year-old said.
