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| Non-urgent patients will be charged more than 2x the current rate from Jan 1 |
Starting Jan 1, 2026, patients who go to public hospitals’ accident
and emergency departments for non-urgent or non-emergency cases will be charged
$400 instead of the current $180.
But patients who are in critical condition or need emergency
services will not be charged.
The move is part of the government’s plan to revamp health
care charges, with the higher fees taking effect over three phases from next
year.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Also as part of the new scheme is the adjustment of charges
for other services, such as hospital stays and consultations at specialist and
outpatient clinics.
To
ease the effect on less financially able patients, the government plans to cap
charges at $10,000 per patient per year, and help eligible people to apply for
a total fee waiver when needed.
Health minister Lo Chung-mau said that what the government
intends is to offer more help to indigent patients and those who are seriously
ill.
The estimated $3 billion that will be generated from the
initial phase of the scheme will go toward improving public health services, Lo
said.
As part of the plan, a “co-payment model” will be introduced,
in which patients will be charged between $50 and $500 for advanced and highly
complicated pathology and non-urgent imaging tests.
But basic check-ups will remain free.
The scheme will also see patients being prescribed no more
than four weeks' worth of drugs each time they go to public hospitals or
clinics for a consultation.
Despite all these adjustments, the government is still
expected to subsidize about 90% of the patients’ treatment in public hospitals,
slightly down from 97.6 percent at present.
Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko said that
from past experience, a number of patients would rather try alternative methods
of care once a new fee structure is put in place.
"This enables us to have more capability to reserve our
manpower resources to take care of the patients who really need emergency and
accidents, and urgent care,” he said.
The HK$10,000 annual fee cap, on the other hand, is expected to benefit around 70,000 chronic or severely-ill patients who need to visit hospitals frequently.
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