Government announces extension of Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme to cover all nine Mainland cities in GBA
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All the 12 medical institutions newly included in the Pilot Scheme (see Annex for details) are Tier III Class A hospitals providing integrated healthcare services (including dental services). They are:
| GBA city | Name of medical institution |
| Guangzhou | Guangdong Clifford Hospital |
| Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine | |
| Shenzhen (including the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Co-operation Zone) |
Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University |
| Peking University Shenzhen Hospital | |
| Zhuhai | The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University |
| Zhuhai People’s Hospital | |
| Foshan | The First People’s Hospital of Foshan |
| The Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Previously: Shunde Hospital of Southern Medical University) |
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| Huizhou | Huizhou Central People’s Hospital |
| Zhongshan | Zhongshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine |
| Jiangmen | Jiangmen Central Hospital |
| Zhaoqing | The First People's Hospital of Zhaoqing |
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said, "The main purpose of implementing the Pilot Scheme is to offer more convenience and flexibility for eligible Hong Kong elderly persons by providing more service points for them to better use their EHCVs for primary healthcare services to improve their health. The service points of the Pilot Scheme are meticulously planned to extend to GBA cities that are not yet covered, namely Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, as well as to set up additional service points in the GBA cities that are already covered. The extension of the Pilot Scheme also includes Chinese medicine hospitals for the first time to provide eligible elderly persons with additional choices in healthcare services.
"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Health Commission of Guangdong Province (GDHC) and the health authorities of relevant cities for providing us invaluable advice and tremendous help on selecting suitable medical institutions and the regulations relevant to the monitoring of healthcare quality and fee level, among others, during the implementation of the Pilot Scheme."
The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address announced the extension of the Pilot Scheme to cover nine Mainland cities in the GBA last October. The Health Bureau (HHB) and the Department of Health (DH) have thereafter promptly taken forward the relevant work proactively, including seeking advice and recommendations from the GDHC, inviting medical institutions to briefing sessions, and conducting site visits.
The service scope eligible for claims for the EHCVs at medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme will be largely the same. The arrangements for shared use of EHCVs between spouses and the EHCV Pilot Reward Scheme are also applicable. Moreover, eligible elderly persons have to register with eHealth. The "Cross-boundary Health Record" and "Personal Folder" functions of the eHealth mobile application will also be applicable to the medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme, with a view to offering convenience for Hong Kong citizens to self-carry their electronic health records for cross-boundary uses.
To ensure the proper use of public money, the DH adopts a robust monitoring mechanism for checking and auditing EHCV claims, including routine checking, monitoring and investigating in respect of aberrant transactions, and investigations into complaints. In the monitoring issues and investigations of the Pilot Scheme, apart from the above measures, the DH has established a mechanism with the health authorities of the Mainland, through which the health authorities of the Mainland will provide assistance to the DH when necessary, with a view to enhancing its monitoring capabilities and ensuring the proper reimbursement of EHCV claims to the participating medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme.
The HHB and the DH are working on the follow-up arrangements with various new pilot medical institutions, such as personnel training, financial arrangements and system configuration. It is expected that the new pilot medical institutions will gradually launch the relevant arrangements by the fourth quarter of this year.
Launched by the Government in 2009, the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (EHVS) currently subsidises eligible Hong Kong elderly persons aged 65 and above with an annual voucher amount of $2,000 (with the accumulation limit set at $8,000) for them to choose in their own community private primary healthcare services that best suit their health needs. The Government launched the Pilot Scheme last year to extend the coverage of EHCVs to suitable medical institutions in the GBA. As at September of the same year, the coverage of EHCVs has been extended to seven integrated medical/dental institutions located in Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Shenzhen.
Members of the public may refer to the EHVS website (www.hcv.gov.hk) or call the hotline (2838 2311) for more information on EHVS.
Ends/Friday, May 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 20:09
Issued at HKT 20:09
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