HK elderly voucher net expands in GBA

Eighty-eight thousand elderly Hong Kong people living in the Greater Bay Area can use their health-care vouchers in five more hospitals in major cities in the region and two dental clinics in Shenzhen from the third quarter of the year.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and its Nansha division, Zhongshan Chenxinghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Dongguan Tungwah Hospital and Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital will accept vouchers of Hong Kong patients seeking outpatient services.

Hongkongers can also vouchers for dental services at Shenzhen CKJ Stomatological Hospital in Luohu district and Dental Bauhinia specialty service and general care centers in Futian.

Lo said yesterday that authorities will not set any key performance indicators on the number of voucher users in the GBA.

"We hope our voucher service can cover all major cities in the Greater Bay Area to help the elderly living in Guangdong," he said.

"When choosing dental clinics we looked for institutions that are close to the border to bring convenience to the elderly living in Hong Kong.

"We're not driving our elderly to use the elderly health-care voucher in the Greater Bay Area or across the border in Shenzhen. Our whole purpose is to give them a choice so they have better health care if they decide to live in the Greater Bay Area."

Hong Kong people who are 65 years old are eligible to receive HK$2,000 vouchers for private health-care services, and the amount can accumulate to HK$8,000.

Currently, they can only use the vouchers in Hong Kong hospitals as well as the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital and its subordinate clinic.

Lo said the five hospitals and two dental clinics will start to prepare for the use of vouchers and are expected to commence such services in the third quarter.

He said while there are 88,000 elderly living in the area at this time some 1.7 million Hongkongers are eligible for the vouchers.

Deputy Secretary for Health Eddie Lee Lik-kong said the charges at the five hospitals will be similar to those at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, which was about HK$309 per consultation last year.

Dental services at mainland clinics will cost around 200 yuan (HK$220) to 500 yuan, he said, adding that medical fees in the mainland are strictly monitored by authorities.

Lee said health authorities considered various factors when choosing the hospitals to join the voucher scheme, including their location, service quality, operational experience and capacity.

Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital said it will cooperate fully with Hong Kong authorities to implement the use of the vouchers and will launch discounts for users.

To better assist Hong Kong patients, the hospital has also deployed Cantonese-speaking medical staff and will provide bilingual medical reports for them.

Legislator Edward Leung Hei of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong welcomed the expanded use of the vouchers, saying it will allow Hongkongers to seek dental services more easily.

He also urged Hong Kong authorities to examine medical charges at mainland hospitals regularly and expand the voucher service to more GBA cities and even Fujian province, where a lot of Hongkongers live.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com