The Government announced today (August 18) that the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme (Pilot Scheme) will be further extended this month to three Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), namely Jiangmen, Huizhou and Zhaoqing, achieving full coverage of the nine Mainland cities in the GBA. Additionally, two new service points will open in Shenzhen. Eligible Hong Kong elderly persons will be able to use Elderly Health Care Vouchers (EHCVs) to pay for outpatient healthcare services at designated departments at these five additional service points within this month.
 
　　"The Government launched the Pilot Scheme in 2024 to extend the coverage of EHCVs to seven integrated medical/dental institutions in the GBA, covering Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Shenzhen. Following the successful implementation of the Pilot Scheme, in May this year, the Government announced an extension of the Pilot Scheme to include 12 additional medical institutions. This expansion extended the Pilot Scheme from the core cities along Zhujiang to GBA cities that were previously not covered. Additionally, the Pilot Scheme included Chinese medicine hospitals for the first time, providing eligible elderly persons with additional choices in healthcare services. The number of pilot medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme will increase significantly to 19. Together with the two existing service points operated by the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, a total of 21 service points in the GBA (see Annex I) will be allowed to use EHCVs to pay for outpatient healthcare services at designated departments, benefitting more than 1.78 million eligible Hong Kong elderly persons," a Government spokesman supplemented.
 
　　"The HKSAR Government would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the Health Commission of Guangdong Province and the health authorities of the relevant cities for their strong support and assistance with the Pilot Scheme. With the five aforementioned medical institutions commencing services this month, the goal announced in 'The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address' to extend the Pilot Scheme to nine Mainland cities in the GBA will be fully achieved. The full coverage of the nine cities under the Pilot Scheme marks another milestone in policy innovation and cross-boundary medical collaboration."
 
　　Details of the five newly added medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme/service points are as follows:
 

Services launch date	GBA City	Name of newly added medical institution/ new service point under the Pilot Scheme
August 21 (Thursday)	Jiangmen	Jiangmen Central Hospital (JMCH)
	Huizhou	Huizhou Central People's Hospital (HZCPH)
August 28 (Thursday)	Zhaoqing	The First People's Hospital of Zhaoqing (FPHZQ)
	Shenzhen	Peking University Shenzhen Hospital (PKUSZH)
	Shenzhen (Qianhai)	Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University (SHSMU)

 
　　For JMCH, EHCVs are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 16 designated departments, namely the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Surgery, Department of Gynecology, Department of Orthopedics, Department of Ophthalmology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Dental Department, Emergency Department, Department of Infectious Disease, Department of Dermatology, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Nutrition, Health Management Center and Department of Nursing.
 
　　For HZCPH, EHCVs are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 10 designated departments, namely the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Surgery, Department of Gynecology, Department of Orthopedics, Department of Ophthalmology, Department of Stomatology, Traumatic Emergency Center, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Health Examination Center and Department of Nutrition.
 
　　For FPHZQ, EHCVs are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 14 designated departments, namely the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Surgery, Department of Gynecology, Department of Orthopedics, Department of Ophthalmology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Department of Stomatology, Emergency Department, Department of Dermatology, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wound Repair Center, Rehabilitation Department, Weight Management Center and Physical Examination Center.
 
　　For PKUSZH, EHCVs are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 14 designated departments, namely the Internal Medicine Department, Surgery Department, Gynecology, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology Department, Otorhinlaryngology (ENT) Department, Stomatology Department, Dermatology Department, General Medicine Department, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Department, Rehabilitation Department, Nutrition Department, Health Checkup Department and Nurse Specialist Clinic.
 
　　For SHSMU, EHCVs are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 12 designated departments, namely the Internal Medicine Department, General Surgery Department, Gynaecology Department, Orthopedic Department, Ophthalmology Department, Otolaryngology (ENT) Department, Stomatology Department, Emergency Department, General Practice Department, Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, Rehabilitation Medicine Department and Health Management Center.
 
　　The arrangements for shared use of EHCVs between spouses and the EHCV Pilot Reward Scheme under the EHCV Scheme are equally applicable to JMCH and HZCPH. When an elderly person receives designated primary healthcare outpatient services for health checks, preventive health services, and follow-up/monitoring of long-term conditions at the designated departments, the EHCV spending for that service encounter can be accumulated for the allotment of rewards. Further information and patient visit procedures are set out in Annex II.
 
     The fees for the healthcare services provided by the pilot medical institutions are denominated in Renminbi. Medical institutions will make EHCV claims for elderly persons, and the EHCV amount deducted in Hong Kong dollars will be calculated according to a monthly updated voucher conversion factor under the EHCV Scheme. The monthly voucher conversion factor under the EHCV Scheme will be displayed at the cashier offices of the medical institutions for reference by the elderly persons.
 
     "Elderly persons cannot use EHCVs together with national medical insurance to pay for the fees of the same healthcare service encounter. The scope of using EHCVs on the Mainland is the same as that in Hong Kong, which does not include inpatient services, prepaid healthcare services and day surgery procedures. EHCVs cannot be used solely for the purchase of goods, medication, medical equipment or products, nor can they be redeemed for cash," the Government spokesman reminded.
 
     Hong Kong elderly persons should register with eHealth before using EHCVs at any designated service point in the GBA. To facilitate Hong Kong citizens in using electronic health records (eHRs) across the boundary in a secure manner and to enhance the continuity of healthcare services, the "Cross-boundary Health Record" and "Personal Folder" functions of the eHealth mobile application (eHealth App) will be extended to the medical institutions concerned starting from the service launch day of the Pilot Scheme (i.e. August 21 and August 28). In addition, elderly persons can also use the eHealth App to check their EHCV balance and usage record, as well as access at any time important information such as their medications, allergies and adverse drug reactions stored in the eHealth App. If elderly persons wish to use EHCVs at the GBA medical institutions but have not yet registered with eHealth, the medical institutions will instantly register them for eHealth upon their consent so that they can use EHCVs right away.
 
     If elderly persons suspect that the participating medical institutions have violated the EHCV Scheme rules, they can call the EHCV Scheme hotline (2838 2311) to provide relevant information and details to the Health Care Voucher Division of the Department of Health (DH). All suspected cases of violation of the EHCV Scheme rules will be strictly dealt with by the DH. Furthermore, each participating GBA medical institution has set up an enquiry and complaint hotline. Elderly persons can also offer their views to the relevant medical institution or file complaints against the medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme with local municipal or Guangdong provincial health authorities if necessary. Members of the public can visit the following thematic website (www.hcv.gov.hk/en/hcv_gba_pilot_scheme/index.html) for more information.

Ends/Monday, August 18, 2025
Issued at HKT 19:07

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