Hong Kong to consider two-tier A&E charge for public hospitals

Public hospitals in Hong Kong are considering implementing a two-tier charge for accident and emergency (A&E) services, according to sources.

Under the plan, patients falling under the critical and emergency categories would receive treatment for free, while urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent patients would be charged more than the current HK$180 fee.

The news came as the Hong Kong government is set to unveil a public hospital fee reform in the coming weeks. Apart from the rumored two-tier charge, it was said earlier that authorities are considering having patients with non-urgent medical needs pay separate charges for lab tests and scans.

Public hospital patients currently pay as little as HK$180 per visit to an A&E department, with the fee remaining unchanged since 2017. Sources previously suggested that authorities could increase the fee to between HK$300 and HK$400.

According to the Hospital Authority (HA), patients are grouped into five categories under a triage system that assesses their clinical conditions. The categories include critical, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent. 

The HA's service targets specify that all critical patients will receive immediate treatment, and emergency and urgent patients will be prioritised for treatment upon arrival at A&E departments, with the targets being that most emergency and urgent patients will be treated within 15 or 30 minutes, respectively.

In 2024, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent patients constitute approximately 95.8 percent of all A&E attendances, meaning a majority of patients would have to pay more in the future should the plan go through.