More than 110,000 patients secured fee waivers within a month since Hong Kong’s public medical fee reform took effect this year, a jump from 14,000 for a whole year previously, the health minister said while defending the new regime.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Friday that among the more than 110,000 people with approved waivers, about 53,000 had already received certificates for fee reduction.
The roughly 60,000 patients remaining who had failed to provide income and asset proof were granted three-month conditional waivers, he said, adding that they must still submit the relevant documents and that authorities would conduct random checks to prevent abuse of medical resources.
“It has been less than a month since the reform was implemented, but the number of people receiving the waiver has increased from only 14,000 a year in the past to more than 110,000 people,” he said at a meeting of the Legislative Council’s panel on health services.
“More people with real financial needs have been added.”
Some lawmakers questioned the effectiveness and impact of the public medical fee reform during the meeting.
Legislator Chan Hok-fung said the increased costs at public hospitals under the new arrangement had put more financial burden on those who were not eligible for a fee waiver. He said some private medical services had also raised charges in the wake of the reform in the public sector.
