Hong Kong to hike public hospital charges next year as part of sweeping healthcare subsidy reform

Hong Kong will increase public hospital fees starting from next year, the city’s government has said – part of sweeping subsidy reforms set to affect its emergency, outpatient, and inpatient services.An Accident & Emergency department at a Hong Kong public hospital. File photo: GovHK.

Health officials announced “comprehensive reform” of the city’s public healthcare system on Tuesday, including charging non-critical patients double for Accident and Emergency (A&E) services and increasing fees for medication and medical tests.Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said during a press conference that the current healthcare subsidy system was not sustainable, calling reform “belated and necessary.”“The government currently covers 97.



6 per cent of public healthcare expenses,” he said in Cantonese. “This leads us to ask whether our public healthcare system is sustainable, both in terms of finance and quality of services.”Lo said the government planned to reduce the overall subsidy rate to 90 per cent in five years.

“Ultimately, it is to strengthen the sustainability of the public healthcare system.”He also said the revamp aimed to prioritise the city’s medical resources for the underprivileged and those most in need of treatment, as well as to reduce waste and abuse.Under the new plan, patients classified as “urgent,” “semi-urgent,” or “non-urgent” will have to pay HK$400 for A&E services.

The current fee has been HK$180 since 2017.Patients classified as “critical,” referring to those who should receive immediate medical attention and those as “emergency,” which should be attended to within 15 minutes, will be treated for free.In 2023, around 2 million people attended A&E departments at Hong Kong’s public hospitals, with over 95 per cent classified as urgent, semi-urgent, or non-urgent, according to government provisional figures.

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Lo said the new plan would restore the original functions of A&E departments to treat urgent and serious cases, adding that residents should never view A&E as a clinic.

Speaking at the same press conference, Tony Ko, the Hospital Authority chief executive, agreed. “A&E departments are for the most serious and urgent cases; it is categorically different from [clinics] treating cold and flu,” Ko said in Cantonese.Costs and benefitsUnder the revamp, an inpatient bed will be charged at between HK$200 and HK$300 per day, depending on the type of treatment, up from the current daily rate of HK$120.

Fees for attending general outpatient clinics will triple, from HK$50 per visit to HK$150, while charges for attending specialist outpatient clinics will nearly double, from HK$135 to HK$250.Hospital Authority. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.

Medication costs at specialist outpatient clinics will see an increase from HK$15 per drug for a 16-week prescription to HK$20 for four weeks, while medicine at general outpatient clinics will no longer be free. They will cost HK$5 per drug for four weeks.Medical tests and non-urgent scans, including CT and MRI scans, will cost between HK$50 and HK$500 under the plan.

Such services at public hospitals are currently fully covered by the government.The government will also relax the threshold for waiving medical charges to ease the burden on underprivileged residents, which is set to benefit an additional 1.1 million residents.

Currently, public hospitals do not charge residents receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, Old Age Living Allowance, and other types of social security schemes, with around 300,000 people enjoying the waiver.For patients who have to spend more than HK$10,000 a year, the government will cover the fees exceeding that amount – a move that will help 70,000 people who require constant medical attention and treatment.Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | AppsHelp safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team.

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