Hong Kong retirees on welfare to get extra HK$5,000 monthly if they live in designated mainland care homes

Hong Kong authorities are set to give an extra HK$5,000 (US$643) a month in subsidies to elderly residents on social security who live in care homes in mainland China, as part of a wider effort to support the underprivileged and encourage retiring across the border.

In his annual policy address on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced a raft of measures aimed at helping the elderly settle in the Greater Bay Area, including paying part of their medical bills when their mainland health insurance did not cover the full cost.

The bay area blueprint aims to link Hong Kong and Macau with nine Guangdong provincial cities and create an economic powerhouse.

Lee said his government would launch a three-year pilot scheme to subsidise elderly recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) who stayed in designated care homes in Guangdong. They will receive a monthly subsidy of HK$5,000, with the number of recipients initially capped at 1,000.

A government source said authorities hoped to offer an incentive to the 6,000 elderly who received CSSA and were living in subdivided flats or private care homes to consider moving over the border.

Elderly underprivileged Hongkongers can receive HK$4,300 in CSSA payments a month if they moved over the border permanently, and under the pilot scheme will qualify for an additional HK$5,000 subsidy if they chose to stay in the designated care homes. But residents would be responsible for the care home fees.