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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) submitted its response to the Government's Consultation Document on Healthcare Reform – "My Health My Choice" (the Document) before the end of the public consultation period today (January 7). The submission was endorsed by the HA Board following discussion at the Administrative and Operational Meeting last month (December last year).
The HA Chairman, Mr Anthony Wu, said that following the release of the Document in October last year, the HA Board set up a working group to study and deliberate on the proposals contained in the Document with a view to formulating a consolidated response for the Authority. The main focus of the working group was to examine implications of the proposed Health Protection Scheme (the HPS), as well as to review the progress of, and HA's ongoing support for, the various Government service reform initiatives undertaken since 2008.
"In general, we welcome the proposed introduction of the HPS, being a voluntary, standardised and government-regulated private health insurance scheme to provide the public with better customer protection and choices. It is seen as a step forward towards enhancing the long term sustainability of the overall healthcare system.
"The success of this Scheme, with its design to provide enhanced consumer protection, price transparency and healthy competition in the private healthcare market, is envisaged to result in the private sector taking a share of the escalating healthcare needs of Hong Kong's ageing society, which in turn would help the public healthcare system to better focus on its targeted areas."
To support the Government on the future development of the HPS, Mr Wu stressed that the HA will give its full support in the relevant areas including review of training needs for additional healthcare professionals, as well as providing expertise for the development of quality assurance, benchmarking and Diagnosis Related Group information. The HA will also explore the innovative use of its private service capacities for potential future use to give support towards the successful implementation of the HPS.
"HA also welcomes the Government's continued commitment to provide financial support for the long term development of primary care, as it serves to reinforce the important gate-keeping role of primary care in our healthcare system. To this end, we will continue to support the Government closely in extending its service reform initiatives as well as pursuing new opportunities to further enhance primary care in Hong Kong," Mr Wu remarked.
The full version of HA's response to the document have been posted on HA homepage www.ha.org.hk under "Hot Links".
Ends/Friday, January 7, 2011
Issued at HKT 16:40
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