The Social Welfare Department is inviting eligible seniors to apply for the fifth batch of vouchers under the Pilot Scheme on Residential Care Service Voucher for the Elderly.

Seniors who have been assessed as moderately impaired under the department's Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services and are waitlisted for places under the Central Waiting List for Subsidised Long Term Care Services for the Elderly with application dates on or before the end-August 2018, are eligible to apply.

The deadline is February 28. Successful applicants will be issued with the vouchers from the end of March onwards.

The scheme adopts the “money-following-the-user” principle to allow seniors to choose the residential care homes from among the eligible ones under the pilot scheme.

They are assessed on an individual basis in a means test. Both income and assets will be taken into account in determining the co-payment level.

The scheme has been implemented in three phases with the first and second phases launched in March and September of 2017 and the third in September, 2018.

A total of 103 residential care homes presently offer beds under the scheme.

The current voucher value is $13,287 per month.

Click here for details.