Expansion of Elderly Health Care Voucher in GBA can reduce stress of HK hospitals: Industry insider
The Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme will be expanded to seven service points starting next Wednesday, and Brian Siu, Executive Director of New Frontier, believes that the expansion of the pilot scheme will help to relieve the pressure on primary care in Hong Kong.
Siu also said that although it is not clearly stated that any price adjustment must be approved by the authorities, the SAR government is very concerned about the fee arrangement, and out of respect, the organization will report any fee adjustment to the government.
"We have seen an increase in medical consumer behavior, from less than 1% of Hong Kong customers at the beginning of boundary-crossing's resumption to more than 20% now, of which more than 60% to 70% of Hong Kong customers are over 60 years old," he noted.
He said that it takes time for customers to build up their confidence and start with simple services such as body check-ups, dental scaling, and gastroscopy, and then increase the choice of more complicated services or services that require a longer waiting time in Hong Kong's public hospitals.
According to Siu's preliminary internal estimation, the proportion of Hong Kong customers will gradually rise to 30% when the vouchers become applicable. The hospital's preparatory work includes setting up Cantonese interpreters, recruiting Cantonese-speaking healthcare workers and providing escort services.
The Chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Health Services, Rebecca Chan, said that the expansion of the pilot scheme was a benevolent policy of the HKSAR Government, but the government needed to act as a gatekeeper to ensure that the money was used appropriately and only for the use of eligible residents.
She said that the medical institutions participating in the pilot scheme were accredited by the government, and she believed that the government would provide assistance in the event of medical incidents.
Related News:
Three additional Elderly Health Care Voucher GBA service points in Shenzhen to launch on August 14
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