Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ14: Medical fee waiver mechanism
Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (November 9):
Question :
Currently, patients of general out-patient clinics who cannot afford the fees
for health care services can apply for a fee waiver, but they are required to
apply to the Medical Social Workers (MSWs) on each occasion. They have
criticised that the arrangement not only causes inconvenience to needy patients,
in particular the elderly persons, but also increases the workload of MSWs and
results in a waste of resources. In this connection, will the Government inform
this Council whether it will review the medical fee waiver mechanism and make
improvements in this respect; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for
that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Under the current medical fee waiver system, recipients of Comprehensive Social
Security Assistance (CSSA) are exempted from paying any medical fees at public
hospitals and clinics. Non-CSSA recipients, who require un-scheduled medical
attention such as attendance at a general outpatient clinic (GOPC) and have
difficulty in paying the relevant medical charges, may apply for one-off
waivers. Applications can be made with Medical Social Workers at public
hospitals or nearby Family Service Centres of the Social Welfare Department. To
cater for the special needs of frail elderly persons and persons with limited
physical mobility, there are designated staff at each GOPC to assess their
waiver applications.
Period waivers may be granted for patients requiring pre-scheduled medical
services, such as specialist outpatient consultation, day hospital and community
services. The maximum validity period of period waivers is usually six months,
which may be extended to 12 months for chronically ill or elderly patients who
require frequent use of medical services. The Hospital Authority (HA) is in the
process of upgrading the information system at all GOPCs to support scheduled
appointments for the follow-up on chronically ill patients. It is expected that
the enhanced system will become fully operational by December 2005. The HA will
take the necessary measures to facilitate the granting of period waivers for
these GOPC appointments.
It is the Administration's policy to grant fee waivers on the basis of the
medical needs of patients. Period waivers are given only to patients with
confirmed need of follow-up medical care within a period of time. In the
interest of ensuring the rational and proper use of medical resources, patients
who require unscheduled medical attention are given one-off waivers. We are
currently reviewing the medical fee waiver system, as part of our new round of
review on public medical fees. Matters to be examined include the existing
guidelines on one-off waivers.
Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:50
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