SWD welcomes Ombudsman's investigation into medical fees
waiver system
********************************************************* The Social Welfare Department today (October 27) welcomed the Ombudsman's direct investigation into the medical fee waiver mechanism and said it would fully co-operate and provide required data for the investigation.
A spokesman for the department said it had always been government policy that no one would be denied adequate medical care due to lack of means. To ensure this, under the medical fee waiver mechanism, recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) are automatically waived from payment of their public health care expenses without the need of individual application to social worker.
To assist other vulnerable groups, i.e. the low income group, chronically ill patients and elderly who have little income or assets but who are not CSSA recipients, social workers, based on the actual needs of the patients, could grant one-off or period waiver to release them from undue financial burden.
To process the medical waiver applications for non-CSSA recipients who cannot afford the medical charges, the Hospital Authority and SWD have operational guidelines for social workers. Social workers would assess applications with due consideration to the financial, social and medical conditions of the applicants on a household basis.
For financial consideration, social workers would assess the family income and family assets. Social workers would also consider other non-financial factors, including the clinical condition as defined by how often the patient used different public medical services and the severity of the illness, whether the patient was a disabled person, whether the patient had other special expenses that made it difficult to pay for the medical fees etc. The list is not exhaustive and social workers will exercise their discretion to grant waivers, where appropriate, on a case-by-case basis.
waiver system
********************************************************* The Social Welfare Department today (October 27) welcomed the Ombudsman's direct investigation into the medical fee waiver mechanism and said it would fully co-operate and provide required data for the investigation.
A spokesman for the department said it had always been government policy that no one would be denied adequate medical care due to lack of means. To ensure this, under the medical fee waiver mechanism, recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) are automatically waived from payment of their public health care expenses without the need of individual application to social worker.
To assist other vulnerable groups, i.e. the low income group, chronically ill patients and elderly who have little income or assets but who are not CSSA recipients, social workers, based on the actual needs of the patients, could grant one-off or period waiver to release them from undue financial burden.
To process the medical waiver applications for non-CSSA recipients who cannot afford the medical charges, the Hospital Authority and SWD have operational guidelines for social workers. Social workers would assess applications with due consideration to the financial, social and medical conditions of the applicants on a household basis.
For financial consideration, social workers would assess the family income and family assets. Social workers would also consider other non-financial factors, including the clinical condition as defined by how often the patient used different public medical services and the severity of the illness, whether the patient was a disabled person, whether the patient had other special expenses that made it difficult to pay for the medical fees etc. The list is not exhaustive and social workers will exercise their discretion to grant waivers, where appropriate, on a case-by-case basis.
Ends/Thursday, October 27, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:12
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