In a move to broaden healthcare accessibility for Hong Kong’s elderly population, the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme has announced the inclusion of five additional hospitals and two new dental service centers. The Secretary for Health, Lo Chung-mau, revealed on Monday that 88,000 eligible elderly residents in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) will be able to utilize their healthcare vouchers at these newly added facilities, effective from the third quarter of this year.
Among the newly added medical institutions are the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, and its Nansha division in Guangzhou, Zhongshan Chenxinghai Hospital, Dongguan Tungwah Hospital, and Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital. Additionally, dental services covered by the vouchers will be extended to Shenzhen C.K.J Stomatological Hospital in Luohu, Dental Bauhinia Specialty Service Center, and General Care Center in Shenzhen.
Presently, elderly individuals can employ their vouchers for outpatient healthcare services at two existing service points operated by the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, located within its hospital premises and at the Huawei Li Zhi Yuan Community Health Service Center.
Secretary Lo emphasized that there will be no set key performance indicators for the number of healthcare voucher users in the GBA. He reiterated that the primary objective of the initiative is to offer choices to residents in the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong, eliminating the need for individuals with vouchers to travel to the GBA for medical assistance.
Deputy Secretary for Health, Eddie Lee Lik-kong, clarified that healthcare vouchers are applicable only to designated institutions, and both public and private medical facilities are rigorously supervised by mainland units. Importantly, institutions are prohibited from increasing fees in response to the introduction of healthcare vouchers.
