The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, July 3, 2018 is 102.8 (up 0.6 against last Saturday’s index).
The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, July 30, 2018 was 102.2 (same as last Friday’s index). read more
The Transport Department (TD) today (July 3) announced the tunnel operation arrangements upon the expiry of the Tate’s Cairn Tunnel (TCT) franchise.
“The TCT will be taken over by the Government on July 11. Pacific Infrastructure Management Limited, the management contractor of the TD, will take up the management, operation and maintenance of the TCT on the same day,” a spokesman for the TD said.
The new management company will retain most of the existing management team and operation staff of the TCT to ensure the smooth operation of the tunnel. It will act according to the management procedures and standards stipulated in the Road Tunnels (Government) Ordinance as well as the contract conditions to manage and operate the tunnel.
​ “To facilitate the takeover arrangement, traffic in manual-toll lanes will be briefly stopped at about midnight on July 11. Traffic in auto-toll lanes will not be affected. Motorists should follow the instructions of tunnel staff. We shall monitor the transitional arrangements and work closely with the existing TCT franchisee and the new management company to ensure that the transition will be smooth,” the spokesman added. read more
Special traffic arrangements will be implemented in Happy Valley tomorrow (July 4). The arrangements will come into effect one and a half hours before the start of the first race and will last until the crowds have dispersed after the race meeting. … read more
Special traffic arrangements will be implemented in Happy Valley tomorrow (July 4). The arrangements will come into effect one and a half hours before the start of the first race and will last until the crowds have dispersed after the race meeting. … read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council Secretariat (the Secretariat) today (July 3) released a Research Brief on “Health insurance for individuals in Hong Kong”.
In parallel with growing health consciousness in society, the number of local people covered by the individual-based health insurance (IHI) schemes has surged by 78 per cent within a decade to 2.4 million in 2016, along with a leap in the penetration ratio from 20 per cent to 34 per cent. Market premium has almost tripled to about $10.3 billion in 2016.
However, less than three-fifths of the insured people covered by IHI policies were treated in private hospitals, indicating a general hesitation amongst IHI policy holders to patronise private hospitals. This could be partly attributable to caveats of existing IHI products in the market, including a lack of premium transparency and budget certainty, declined coverage of pre-existing conditions, no guaranteed renewal of policies, frequent reports of disputes and complaints over insurance claims.
Despite the robust penetration of health insurance, the diversion effect in overall healthcare system from the public sector to private sector is disproportionately small, partly due to higher administration cost in running the IHI system. Moreover, service expansion in the private sector was not fast enough to keep pace with the overall healthcare demand. During 2006-2016, the share of private sector in the total number of inpatient discharges declined from 20 per cent to 18 per cent, as well as the share in out-patient care from 71 per cent to 68 per cent. The public healthcare system remains highly congested.
To relieve the pressure on public sector and to broaden the source of healthcare financing, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) will launch the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) in early 2019, offering annual tax incentives of up to $8,000 for individuals to purchase the certified IHI plans meeting prescribed minimum product requirements. FHB estimates that about 1.5 million people will join VHIS by the third year of implementation.
However, the regulatory regime is entirely voluntary and is confined to the Certified Plans under VHIS, while the stock of existing non-compliant policies in the market remains “lightly regulated”. Coupled with the omission of high-risk pool from the prescribed minimum requirements and expectation of higher insurance premium of the certified plans, the policy target to cover 1.5 million people under VHIS within three years seems to be quite challenging.
This is the third issue of the Research Brief for 2017-2018 prepared by the Secretariat’s Research Office of the Information Services Division with a view to enhancing information support for Members. It is a concise summary aiming at explaining a subject matter which may be of interest to Members and the general public.
The Research Brief is now available on the Legislative Council Website at www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1718rb03-health-insurance-for-individuals-in-hong-kong-20180703-e.pdf. read more