Hong Kong approves 49,310 medical fee waiver applications as of 7 January

The scheme’s expansion increases the number of eligible individuals to 1.4 million.

As of 7 January, Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has approved 49,310 medical fee waiver applications, more than three times the roughly 14,000 granted in the previous year.

Of the approved applications, 32,249 cases have completed assessment and received formal waiver certificates, which are valid for up to 18 months.

The expansion of the scheme, which is part of the public healthcare fees and charges reform, increased the number of eligible individuals from about 300,000 to approximately 1.4 million.

Over the past week, patients have received immediate fee reductions when using accident and emergency, outpatient, and inpatient services under the new waiver mechanism, according to the authority.