The Health Bureau, together with the Hospital Authority, today held the second District Council (DC) briefing on reforms to public healthcare fees and charges, explaining these to more than 200 DC members and local people.
Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau said apart from restructuring the subsidisation levels for various services in a precise manner, such fees and charges reform also emphasises enhancing healthcare protection for “poor, acute, serious, critical” patients, enabling public healthcare to serve as a larger, more stable, thicker and denser safety net for all.
He added: “Through this briefing, we hope to explain details of the reform to DC members, and leverage the role of DC as a bridge to assist members of the public to get a better grasp of the substance and meaning of the fees and charges reform.”
The authority’s Deputising Chief Executive Dr Simon Tang highlighted three key measures for strengthening healthcare protection, namely enhancing the medical fee waiver mechanism, introducing an annual cap of $10,000 for public healthcare fees and charges, and optimising the application and subsidisation of innovative drugs and medical devices.
A means test calculator has been launched on the authority’s website and on its mobile app, “HA Go”, allowing users to input information on their household income and assets to view a preliminary assessment of their eligibility for the enhanced medical fee waiver and the Samaritan Fund.
The new fees and charges will take effect on January 1 next year.
