Hong Kong health chief confirms patients may pay separate fees for scans like MRI

Hong Kong authorities will consider charging patients separately for services, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, at public outpatient clinics, the health chief has said, confirming an earlier report by the Post.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Friday that hospitalised patients and those attending emergency rooms would be excluded from the proposed move, in which a source previously told the Post that the separate fees would be part of “significant” reforms to the city’s healthcare subsidy model.

Lo said the government would adjust the fees to a level where there would be “a reasonable co-payment”, with the earnings being contributed to support patients with serious illnesses.

“For some more complicated imaging tests, such as CT and MRI scans, the demand for them has been increasing and the waiting time is getting longer. We will consider asking the public to pay a certain amount of co-payment for them,” he said.

“We have to emphasise that the government subsidy for CT and MRI scans at outpatient clinics is currently 100 per cent, which means that they are free of charge. It may lead to a certain degree of abuse.”

He added that the fee adjustment would also direct patients to seek help from family doctors first before visiting specialists, preventing the abuse of resources.