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LCQ5: Disability Allowance
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     Following is an oral reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing on disability allowance in the Legislative Council today (November 5):

Question:

     I have earlier received a complaint from a worker who said that after becoming physically handicapped due to a work-related injury, he had lost his capacity to work and his application for disability allowance was also repeatedly rejected by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") on grounds that he had been certified by a medical practitioner as not being in a position broadly equivalent to a person "with a 100% loss of earning capacity", and hence his condition did not fall within the meaning of "severely disabled".  Besides, there have been comments that due to different assessment criteria adopted by medical practitioners, people with similar degree of disability are often accorded different medical assessment results.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  whether SWD will review the eligibility criteria for disability allowance, including defining "100% loss of earning capacity" more clearly;

(b)  whether the authorities will review and improve the existing guidelines and criteria relating to medical assessments, so as to solve the problem of inconsistent medical assessment results; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and

(c)  how the authorities will enhance the transparency of medical assessments and the appeal mechanism concerned, such as whether they will explain in detail to applicants the reasons for rejecting their applications?

Reply:

President,

     The Disability Allowance (DA) under the Social Security Allowance (SSA) Scheme includes Normal Disability Allowance (NDA) and Higher Disability Allowance (HDA).  DA is non-contributory and non-means tested.  It is designed to provide a monthly cash allowance to Hong Kong residents who are severely disabled to meet their special needs arising from disability.  An applicant is eligible for NDA if he/she is certified by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (HA) (or under exceptional circumstances by a registered medical practitioner of a private hospital) to be severely disabled and his/her disabling condition will persist for at least 6 months. As for HDA applicant, in addition to meeting the aforesaid eligibility criteria for NDA, he/she has to be certified by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the HA (or under exceptional circumstances by a registered medical practitioner of a private hospital) to be in need of constant attendance from others in his/her daily life but is not receiving such care in a government or subvented residential institution (including a government subsidised place in a contract home or purchased from a residential care home for the elders under the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme) or a medical residential institution under the HA, or boarding in a special school under the Education Bureau. At present, recipients of NDA receive a monthly allowance of $1,170 while those of HDA receive $2,340.

     My replies to the specific questions are set out below:

(a)  Regarding the eligibility criteria for DA, it has been clearly specified that an applicant is considered to be "severely disabled" if he/she is certified by the Director of Health or the Chief Executive of the HA to be in a position broadly equivalent to a person with a 100% loss of earning capacity according to the criteria in the First Schedule of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap 282).  We have to stress that at present, applicants of different disability categories can be eligible for DA if they are medically certified to fall within the definition of "severely disabled" under the DA.

(b)  At present, to ensure consistency and objectivity in medical assessment, a medical practitioner will make assessments with reference to a standardised "Medical Assessment Form" and a professional medical checklist.  The "Medical Assessment Form" sets out the eligibility criteria for DA, and the checklist is formulated by the HA and Department of Health for assessing disability.  Medical practitioners will assess the degree of disability of DA applicants in accordance with the established criteria and guidelines along with their professional knowledge and judgment.

     We have since September 2006 adopted the revised checklist and Medical Assessment Form to spell out explicitly that "visceral disability" is also included in any other conditions resulting in total disablement.

(c)  If any person is not satisfied with the decision of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in respect of eligibility and payment of social security benefits, he/she may lodge an appeal to the Social Security Appeal Board (the Board).  The Board is an independent body and its Chairman and Members are all non-officials appointed by the Chief Executive.  For appeals involving the result of a medical assessment, the Board will arrange with the HA for the applicant to undergo a medical re-assessment to be processed by the Medical Assessment Board (MAB) responsible for social security appeals.  The MAB is an independent body and its members consist of a medical practitioner from the HA and two representatives from the Hong Kong Medical Association.

     As mentioned in part (b) of our reply, medical practitioners conducting medical assessments are provided with clear guidelines.  The purpose of medical assessments is to assess the eligibility of applicants for DA.  If an application for DA or an appeal to the Board against the decision of the SWD is rejected, the reason(s) of rejection will be set out in the Notification of Decision issued by the SWD or in the Notification of the Decision of the Social Security Appeal Board issued by the Board.

Ends/Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:31

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