The number of seniors using health care vouchers and the Government's annual financial commitment will rise if the eligible age of 70 is lowered or the annual voucher amount is increased.
Secretary for Health & Welfare Dr Ko Wing-man told legislators today the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme has been refined since its inception to give seniors greater flexibility in using them for private primary care services.
The annual voucher amount has increased progressively from the initial $250 to $2,000, while the financial cap has been revised upward from $3,000 to $4,000, he noted.
As at end of March, 5,300 healthcare service providers were enrolled under the scheme and more than 610,000 seniors had used the vouchers, accounting for 80% of the eligible elderly population.
Dr Ko noted there will be 930,000 seniors aged 70 or above in 2020, which is 1.5 times as much as the existing number of voucher-users, while those aged 65 or above is estimated to reach 1.4 million in 2020, which is about twice the existing number of voucher-users.
"With an ageing population, we anticipate that both the number of elders using the vouchers and the annual financial commitment involved will continue to increase substantially if there is an increase in the annual voucher amount or the eligible age is lowered to 65."
Dr Ko added that in considering such requests, the Government needs to examine the effectiveness of subsidising primary care services in the form of health care vouchers and assess in detail the Government's long-term financial implications.
The Department of Health is conducting a comprehensive review of the scheme with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to collect opinions from seniors and service providers.
"We will closely monitor the pattern of using the vouchers and actively consider enhancing the scheme as appropriate taking into account the review findings and the Government's fiscal condition," Dr Ko said.
