Hong Kong’s elderly to feel benefit with expansion of health voucher plan
- Those eligible for subsidies will by the third quarter be able to spend them at seven additional hospitals and dental clinics in southern China
- Fostering a stronger culture of preventive medicine will help ease the burden on local hospitals and clinics
Cross-border travel and living has become an irreversible trend as the government drive for closer integration intensifies. With as many as 88,000 elderly Hong Kong citizens currently living in the Greater Bay Area, it makes sense to help them gain access to medical and other essential services on the mainland.
The expansion of the city’s medical voucher scheme to some designated facilities in the region marks another positive step for public healthcare and integration. Starting from as early as the third quarter of this year, Hongkongers eligible for the subsidy will be able to spend it at seven more hospitals and dental clinics in Guangzhou, Dongguan, Nansha, Zhongshan and Shenzhen.
Announced in the chief executive’s policy speech last year, the initiative is not only good news for those who are retiring on the mainland, but also for locals seeking dental care across the border, an increasingly popular trend amid a shortage of dentists and expensive treatment here. This is the first time healthcare vouchers have been extended to dental institutions and bodies beyond Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Another breakthrough is the unprecedented involvement of “Grade III Class A high-quality” public and private operators of facilities, such as clinics or hospitals, without Hong Kong investments.
The details of the scheme seem to have been well thought out. The choices of the institutes are based on their location, service quality, operational experience, service scope, service capacity, knowledge about the elderly healthcare voucher scheme as well as the level of charges.
