Following is a question by the Hon Yang Wing-kit and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

     The public healthcare fees and charges reform will take effect on January 1 this year, with the Hospital Authority (HA) simultaneously enhancing the medical fee waiver mechanism, which will increase the number of eligible beneficiaries from 300 000 to 1.4 million. To handle the additional fee waiver applications, HA implemented special transitional arrangements (transitional arrangements) during the transition period from January to March this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the number of medical fee waiver applications received by HA following the implementation of the transitional arrangements, as well as the number of applications approved and the average processing time;

(2) given that under the transitional arrangements, HA currently only permits patients with appointments at public hospitals in January or February of this year to submit medical fee waiver applications two months prior to their appointments, whether the Government knows when HA will commence processing applications from patients with appointments scheduled after February of this year, as well as from members of the public attending without appointments;

(3) as patients requiring immediate or urgent treatment during the transition period, who cannot afford medical expenses at the public sector but cannot provide complete documentation for financial assessment, will be granted "conditional waivers" by HA for full or partial medical fees, whether the Government knows how HA determines the amount of "conditional waivers" for such individuals in the absence of the requisite supporting documents; and

(4) as HA has established dedicated teams to assist patients with matters relating to medical fee waiver applications, whether the Government knows the staffing establishment of the dedicated teams and the expenditure involved?

Reply:

President,

     In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Yang Wing-kit is as follows:

     The fees and charges reform for public healthcare aims to, through reforming the subsidisation structure, guide the public to make optimal use of healthcare resources, reduce wastage and abuse, and enhance healthcare protection for "poor, acute, serious, critical" patients on all fronts, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the healthcare system and strengthening the public healthcare system to cope with the challenges posed by an ageing population, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, persistent strain on healthcare resources, etc., and serve as a safety net for all. The various measures under the reform have been successfully implemented from January 1, 2026.

     As an essential component of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare, the HA has concurrently expanded its medical fee waiver mechanism. Apart from the some 600 000 people who have been benefiting from medical fee waivers both before and after the reform (namely Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients, Old Age Living Allowance recipients aged 75 or above and Level 0 Voucher Holders of the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly), the number of other eligible low-income individuals is estimated to significantly increase from approximately 300 000 to about 1.4 million - around 4.6 times the previous number of beneficiaries. This enables limited healthcare resources to be more precisely directed to help "poor, acute, serious, critical" patients who are most in need, while ensuring that no patient is denied medical care due to lack of means.

     To handle the additional medical fee waiver applications, the HA has implemented the following special transitional arrangements to ensure patients are notified of the assessment results in a timely manner:

(i) Patients with appointments at public hospitals in January or February 2026 could submit the required documentation two months in advance (i.e. in November or December 2025). Applications were pre-assessed, and eligible patients could receive medical fee waiver certificates before their follow-up appointments after the fees and charges reform for public healthcare took effect on January 1, 2026; and

(ii) Patients with financial difficulty who require immediate or urgent treatment but cannot provide complete documentation for financial assessment will be granted "conditional waivers" for full or partial medical fees during the transitional period from January to March 2026. Eligible patients need only submit relevant documents within three months to receive official medical fee waiver certificates upon passing the assessment.

(1) Since the implementation of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare, the number of medical fee waiver applications approved by the HA has significantly increased by multiple times compared with the past, demonstrating that the reform has effectively strengthened support for low-income families and underprivileged groups. Recent data shows that the HA receives an average of about 5 900 medical fee waiver applications daily. From early November 2025, when the HA began accepting applications from patients for medical fee waivers applicable after the fees and charges reform for public healthcare takes effect, up until January 19, 2026, the HA has approved 91 479 medical fee waiver applications (including 47 051 "conditional waivers"). This figure far exceeded the annual number of approximately 14 000 patients who were approved to receive medical fee waivers in the past. In other words, at least an additional 77 000 patients to date have already benefitted from the safety net under the enhanced medical fee waiver mechanism, from having to pay the fees and charges in full before the reform to now receiving fee waivers. According to approval records, approximately 82 per cent of applications were successfully approved on average, with some hospital clusters reaching over 90 per cent, with medical fee waiver certificates issued on the same day.

(2) The medical fee waiver mechanism aims to provide assistance to patients with financial difficulties and healthcare needs, ensuring they are not denied medical care due to lack of means. Financial assessment is therefore required and not everyone will be eligible. The HA must handle each application with due diligence for proper use of public funds. Patients also have the responsibility to provide complete, accurate, truthful and appropriate information for assessment and verification to help ensure that assistance reaches patients truly in need. While ensuring that no patient is denied medical care due to lack of means, it is also essential for the HA to uphold the principle of prudent use of resources to prevent the limited and precious public resources from being abused. In general, those who have financial difficulty and are eligible for medical fee waivers are from low-income families with relatively simple asset structure. The assessment process is not complicated.

     To facilitate eligible patients in obtaining medical fee waiver certificates before their appointments, the HA advises patients to begin the application process approximately one to two months before their scheduled appointments. The HA is accordingly now accepting applications for medical fee waivers from patients with scheduled appointments within two months. Citizens with scheduled appointments beyond two months or without any appointments do not need to apply at this stage.

(3) Patients applying for "conditional waivers" need only sign a declaration form and state their approximate financial circumstances to be granted a "conditional waiver" for full or partial medical fees valid for three months. However, as aforementioned, "conditional waiver" is only a special flexible arrangement for patients who require urgent medical services but are unable to provide the required documentation for financial assessment. Therefore, such patients must still submit all the relevant documents for financial assessment within the validity period of the "conditional waiver". Eligible patients will be issued an official medical fee waiver certificate, which will replace the conditional waiver certificate. If patients fail to submit the required documents within the three-month deadline or do not meet the relevant eligibility criteria, they will be required to settle all applicable fees (if any). To ensure the appropriate use and prevent abuse of healthcare resources, the HA will conduct regular random reviews of approved cases.

(4) The HA established the Designated Financial Assessment Team for Waiver Application (designated team) in November 2025, with an establishment of approximately 180 staff members. This team is deployed across the seven hospital clusters to assist in triaging and processing the medical fee waiver applications. The team is made up of Social Work Officers, Assistant Social Work Officers, Executive Officers and Executive Assistants. Most team members are stationed within the Medical Social Services Units. As of December 2025, the actual expenditure for hiring the staff for the designated team is approximately $9 million. The HA will closely monitor the volume of medical fee waiver applications and increase or redeploy personnel to the designated team as necessary to meet service demands in due course, ensuring efficient resource utilisation and timely processing of citizens' medical fee waiver applications. 

Ends/Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:00

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