Hong Kong’s public hospitals will raise a range of charges from January 1, while anxious lower-income patients who face higher bills but do not qualify under new fee waiver thresholds are calling for more government help.
From Thursday, patients will need to pay more in general, but the safety net will also be widened to support the neediest, with an annual HK$10,000 cap on medical fees introduced and the current fee waiver scheme expanded to cover an extra 1.1 million people.
However, some underprivileged residents have fallen through the cracks, facing as much as a fourfold rise in medical bills while being ineligible for subsidies due to a broad definition of income and assets, which includes annuity and family members’ income.
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The changes include higher fees in areas ranging from hospital stays and outpatient clinic visits to imaging scans and tests. For example, patients requiring overnight hospital treatment will be charged HK$200 to HK$300 per day for a bed, depending on the type, instead of the current HK$100 or HK$120.
The authorities said the fees reform was intended to ensure the “sustainable development” of the city’s healthcare system.
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“Some elderly people have assets, but they do not have a job and still need to pay rent,” Ivan Lin Wai-kiu, a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation, said on Tuesday.