[14] Subsidised treatment, with small co-payments, is available to people with a Hong Kong identity card and to resident children under the age of 11.
[18] The Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) is one of the major medical healthcare reforms proposed by the government.
In Hong Kong, the public and private sectors complement each other under a well-established dual-track healthcare system.
[19] Due to aging population, the rising demand of citizens on good quality healthcare service provision and escalating medical costs, the recurrent expenditure of the government on medical and health care services increased continuously, from $32 billion in 2007 to $52 billion in 2014.
Thus, the public sector can focus on providing services in its target areas, thereby enhancing the long-term sustainability of the dual-track healthcare system.
[21] The government has pointed out that this scheme is not intended as a wholesome solution to the existing problems, but just one of the measures to take forward the reform.
The report suggested that, in the short run, the government should adopt a two-tier mandatory health insurance scheme consisting of the "Savings Account for Long Term Care (MEDISAGE)" and "Health Security Plan (HSP)", which require both employers' and employees' contribution.
It foretells that the Advisory Committee will proceed with discussion on the possible financing options and will bring forth relevant recommendation early 2006.
The three-month consultation aimed at collecting public views on general health care reform in two areas.
First, the four service reform proposals, namely (i) enhance primary care; (ii) promote public-private partnership; (iii) develop electronic health record sharing; and (iv) strengthen public healthcare safety net.
Some pros and cons of the six proposals, and the underlying societal values they represent were spelt out, with the aim to assist the public in their expression of preferences.
In addition, the government pledged to earmark $50 billion from the fiscal reserve to finance the scheme, opinion was sought on how this fund should be allocated.
Subsequent to the consultation, the FHB proposed a three-pronged action plan, including (i) review healthcare manpower strategy by setting up the Steering Committee on Strategic Manpower Review; (ii) Formulate a supervisory framework and propose financial incentives for the HPS by setting up a working group under the HMDAC; and (iii) facilitate healthcare service developments, like develop essential infrastructure and promote packaged services.
[32] In December 2016, the government announced the decision to drop three controversial features temporarily, the HRP, and two of the "12 minimum requirements" - guaranteed acceptance and portable insurance policy.
Records can be shared among public and private sectors; hospitals and clinics; specialists and GPs across institutional boundaries.
They specifically emphasised their doubt on the high-risk pool as the use of $50 billion earmarked reserve was not made clear in the consultation paper.
[44] For public sectors, the Hospital Authority supports the proposed VHIS but they would like the government to address the challenges in manpower and capacity planning.
[46] Also, they expressed worries over the transparency of medical fees, especially the disclosure of historical pricing which was largely determined by doctors.
[47] The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers has great divergences on the fundamental operating principles with the government in the scheme.
They believe that the suggested premium level at $3600 is unrealistic and misleading, because it fails to take into account the effect of medical inflation.
[48] In addition, there are several uncertainties, such as the lack of proper definition of high risk and the transparency of medical fee by the hospitals.
[51] 1000 residents were interviewed in a survey co-organised by the Radio Television Hong Kong and the Public Opinion Programme.
[52] This survey revealed that citizens are willing to support the scheme under the condition that the government resolves the ambiguity in policy implementation.
[54] While the latter raised queries over the availability of choices for customers, and the need to facilitate information transparency by disclosing claim records and benefits schedules online.