Elderly to enjoy health care vouchers in more GBA hospitals: Health chief

The health chief declared today that Hong Kong will expand the range for the elderly to use their health care voucher at hospitals in the Greater Bay Area, citing the cooperation on medical care between Hong Kong and the mainland.  

According to the current health care voucher scheme, each eligible elderly person could be issued HK$2,000 per year for taking private primary care services, with the unspent amount being carried forward and accumulated for use in subsequent years, which is subject to a ceiling of HK$8,000.

"The government is trying every effort to keep enhancing the cooperation in healthcare innovation between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area cities, aiming to promote the development of Hong Kong citizens who are living on the mainland, " said Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau in the Legislative Council on Thursday, citing the pilot scheme at the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen (HKU-SZ) Hospital which applied health care vouchers from 2015.   

"Over 11,000 Hong Kong seniors have used the vouchers, which costs about HK$38 million, at the hospital until last month under the pilot scheme,” he said.  

"The government will actively consider extending the use range for the vouchers to other Greater Bay Area hospitals and health care institutions to support Hong Kong elderly, especially those living in the Greater Bay Area, to enjoy more options on medical services," Lo said.  

Hong Kong has seen its local medical expenditure increase by 4.8 times in the past 20 years, said lawmaker Kingsley Wong Kwok in the Legislative Council.  

"It would undoubtedly be welcomed if cross-border healthcare could reduce the referral and waiting time for patients in local hospitals and save the healthcare costs," he claimed.  

"However, the government should come up with a practical and feasible schedule for the expanding scheme in the earliest possible," said Wong.