Author Archives: hksar gov

     Following is a question by the Hon Vincent Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, in the Legislative Council today (January 13):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that the Police recorded 895 telephone deception cases in the first three quarters of last year, representing a 1.3-fold increase when compared with the number of cases in the same period of the preceding year, with the amount of money involved increasing nearly fourfold to $402 million. Quite a number of the fraudulent calls came from outside Hong Kong, and the fraudsters mostly impersonated government officials, bank staff and staff of financial intermediaries or courier companies. My office has also received recently a number of requests for assistance involving telephone deception. In one of the cases, a fraudster called the victim impersonating bank staff and obtained by deception the victim’s personal information, with which the fraudster then applied for a loan of $100,000 from a bank. The fraudster afterwards withdrew the money. It was only when the bank demanded repayment of the loan that the victim realised that this had been a scam. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of telephone deception cases recorded by the Police last year, with a breakdown by (i) the District Council (DC) district in which the victims resided, (ii) whether the victims suffered a pecuniary loss, and (iii) the identity impersonated by the fraudsters; among such cases, of the number of those in which the telephone calls concerned came from outside Hong Kong;
 
(2) of the respective numbers of persons arrested and convicted last year for being involved in telephone deception-related offences; the penalties imposed on the convicted persons; the number of cases in which the Police successfully intercepted the lost money and the amount involved;
 
(3) whether the Police have recently found fraudsters using new tactics to deceive others; if so, of the details; and
 
(4) given that the Police established the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre in July 2017 to improve intelligence gathering, enhance efforts in publicity and education, as well as strengthen cross-boundary collaboration, whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the work of the Centre; if so, of the assessment outcome, and the results achieved by the Centre in detecting and investigating fraudulent calls coming from outside Hong Kong? 
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Deception is a serious offence. Any person who commits the offence of fraud under section 16A of the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) is liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years, while any person charged with obtaining property by deception under section 17 of the same Ordinance is liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years. In addition, any person charged with dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offences under section 25 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455) for proceeds of deception is liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years.
 
     Combating “quick-cash” crimes is on the list of the Commissioner’s Operational Priorities 2020. In particular, “targeting criminal groups involved in deception through joint efforts with stakeholders under the support of the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC)”, and “promoting public awareness and securing community support to prevent ‘quick-cash’ crimes, particularly telephone, Internet and social media deception”, are key operational areas of the Hong Kong Police Force (the Police).
 
(1) and (2) During January to November 2020, the Police recorded a total of 1 108 telephone deception cases, around double of the 533 cases in the same period of 2019. Of these, 1 072 cases involved monetary losses totalling $563 million, which was approximately four times higher than the $112 million in the same period of 2019. Most cases recorded involved calls from outside Hong Kong. There were also cases involving local prepaid SIM cards. During the said period, the Police arrested 55 persons in total for telephone deception. The losses in the cases involving the arrested persons amounted to nearly $160 million.
 
     The Police currently maintains figures of telephone deception by Police Regions. Breakdown by Police Regions and modus operandi are at Annexes I and II respectively. The Government does not maintain statistics on the penalties for persons convicted of telephone deception.
 
(3)  In recent years, the prevalent modi operandi of telephone deception are “Guess Who” and “Pretend Officials”. In “Guess Who” cases, the fraudster making the call will ask the victim to guess his or her identity. Once the victim responds, the fraudster will impersonate the victim’s relative or friend to swindle. As for “Pretend Officials” cases, the fraudster will often play a recording, posing as a staff member of the Government, a logistics company, or a public or private organisation, and falsely allege that the victim is involved in a criminal case in the Mainland. The call will then be diverted to an accomplice who will pretend to be a Mainland official to perpetuate a fraud. The excuses made by fraudsters are also closely related to current affairs. For instance, during the pandemic, the Police have received deception reports relating to the sale of masks or quarantine matters.
 
(4)  The Police have been adopting all-round strategies to combat frauds on various fronts, including intelligence exchanges, enforcement actions, cross agency co-operation and enhanced publicity and education. To reinforce the combat against deception and raise the public’s anti-deception awareness, the Police’s Commercial Crime Bureau established the ADCC in 2017, the duties of which include monitoring and analysing deception trends with a view to formulating and implementing combating strategies; co-ordinating anti-deception publicity work; operating the 24-hour “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” to provide timely assistance; co-operating with the banking sector to intercept payments to fraudsters so as to minimise the loss of victims; and assisting victims to intercept overseas payments to fraudsters via the “International Stop-Payment Mechanism”.
 
     Between January and November 2020, the ADCC received more than 20 000 telephone enquiries, of which about 20 per cent were related to telephone deception. The ADCC provides anti-deception advice to the public and assist those in need to report. It also co-operates with the banking sector to intercept payments to fraudsters, and have successfully intercepted more than HK$120 million in 185 deception cases where payments have already been made to local and overseas banks. In addition, it has prevented 300 deception cases from happening, 40 per cent of which involve telephone deception.
 
     In view of the transnational nature of deception and money-laundering cases, the ADCC has been co-operating actively with different jurisdictions and has built an extensive network with external counterparts as well as international police authorities to combat such cases. In November 2020, the ADCC and the Police’s Designated Subject Team of Telephone Deception attended the meeting of the INTERPOL Anti-Transnational Financial Crime Working Group to exchange intelligence and work experience as well as discuss the way forward with regard to telephone deception matters and the like. The ADCC will continue to enhance the efficacy of tracking and intercepting transnational crime proceeds with overseas judicial authorities through close police co-operation. read more

     Following is a question by Ir Dr the Hon Lo Wai-kwok and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (January 13):
 
Question:
 
     As the epidemic has raged on in Hong Kong for nearly one year but has not yet been brought under control, various industries have been hard hit, with the unemployment rate soaring. Quite a number of members of the public have pointed out that such a situation stems from the Government’s perfunctory anti-epidemic efforts which are inept and piecemeal, and merely deal with problems on an ad hoc basis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it will, by making reference to the successful anti-epidemic experience on the Mainland, carry out anti-epidemic work under a state-of-war mentality, mobilising and steering the efforts of the whole society towards fighting the epidemic, in order to strive for “zero” infection case as soon as possible; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) whether the Government will, for the sake of cutting the virus transmission chain as early as possible, consider afresh the implementation of universal compulsory testing and, when necessary, once again request the Central Authorities to send a test support team to Hong Kong to provide assistance; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(3) given that the universal vaccination programme is massive in scale, involving work in various aspects such as transporting and storing vaccines, setting up vaccination centres, conducting publicity, rebutting rumours, providing vaccination appointment service, keeping vaccination records and handling post-vaccination adverse reactions, of the progress of preparing and the specific work arrangements for the vaccination programme?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     My reply to the various parts of the question raised by Ir Dr the Hon Lo Wai-kwok is as follows:
 
(1) Hong Kong has been extensively affected by COVID-19, a pandemic sweeping across the world. The Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government has remained vigilant and committed to curbing the epidemic through a multi-pronged approach with a view to meeting the target of “Sparing No Effort in Achieving ‘Zero Infection'” as put forward by the Chief Executive in the 2020 Policy Address.
 
     In view of the rapidly evolving pandemic, the SAR Government has all along made references to the advice from experts in Hong Kong, the Mainland and the rest of the world in formulating anti-epidemic strategy suitable for Hong Kong based on science and theories. In terms of making reference to the Mainland’s anti-epidemic experience, in addition to the regular exchanges between the Department of Health (DH) of the SAR Government and the National Health Commission, the Chief Secretary has also led government officials and expert advisors to attend a meeting to exchange views with Mainland officials and experts in December 2020. By drawing on the Mainland’s successful anti-epidemic strategy and experience, it is hoped that the fourth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong could be put under control as soon as possible. The SAR Government will continue to strengthen exchanges between experts in the Mainland and Hong Kong in order to further enhance the anti-epidemic work in the territory.
 
(2) With respect to the suggestion that the Government should consider implementing universal compulsory testing, we reiterate that the virus testing strategy is to continue and expand compulsory testing on a mandatory basis, targeted testing on an obligatory basis and testing on a voluntary basis so as to achieve the objective of “early identification, early isolation and early treatment”. Since the commencement of the fourth wave of epidemic from mid-November 2020 to January 6, 2021, the Government has conducted more than 1.9 million tests, of which 3 477 samples tested preliminarily positive (0.18 per cent), successfully cutting silent transmission chains in the community.
 
     Regarding compulsory testing on a mandatory basis, the Government has implemented the Prevention and Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation (Cap. 599J) since November 15, 2020. As at January 11, the Government has required persons who had been to 121 specified premises, symptomatic persons, staff members of residential care homes for the elderly, residential care homes for persons with disabilities and nursing homes, day service units attached to the premises of residential care homes and taxi drivers to undergo compulsory virus testing.
 
     The Government has also actively expanded the scope of compulsory testing on a mandatory basis especially for residential buildings to achieve community clearing. With effect from December 30, 2020, if there are two or more units in a building with confirmed cases in the past 14 days and the units concerned are not epidemiologically linked to each other, the building would be included in the compulsory testing notice under Cap. 599J and persons who had been present at that building for more than two hours in the past 14 days are required to undergo compulsory testing. After the amendment of this criteria, 59 buildings had been included in compulsory testing notices by January 11. To tie in with the expansion of compulsory testing, the Government not only provides free testing services in 19 community testing centres (CTCs) but also set up around 50 mobile specimen collection stations in the vicinity of these buildings to facilitate persons subject to the compulsory testing notices to undergo testing. For the 42 premises subject to compulsory testing notices issued on December 30 and December 31, 2020, as at January 4, around 55 000 persons have received tests through mobile specimen collection stations and CTCs. The Government is also actively preparing to step up enforcement such as conducting blitz operations to demonstrate our determination to enforce the legal requirement of compulsory testing.
 
     For targeted testing on an obligatory basis, the Government also arranges testing for targeted groups based on risk assessment. Testing is currently arranged on a continuous basis for targeted groups including school teachers, staff of restaurants and bars, designated frontline employees of Kwai Tsing Container Terminals. New targeted groups including foreign domestic helpers and workers from construction sites have been added.
 
     On voluntary testing, the Government continues to provide convenient testing service to individuals who perceive themselves as having a higher risk of exposure or experience mild discomfort through various channels, including free testing for the public through 188 distribution points (namely designated general outpatient clinics of the Hospital Authority, 121 post offices, and vending machines at 20 MTR stations) and 83 collection points. The above three channels can distribute over 40 000 specimen collection packs per day, while the 19 CTCs also have a total daily capacity of more than 20 000 tests.
 
(3) On vaccines, we have procured three vaccines from different technology platforms through advance purchase agreements. The vaccines are respectively from Sinovac Biotech (Hong Kong) Limited, BioNtech and Fosun Pharma, and AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. We procured 7.5 million doses of each of the above three vaccines. Under the situation where each person requires two doses, the amount procured is sufficient to cover 1.5 times the Hong Kong population. Having considered that the vaccines have different requirements in transport and storage, the DH has identified suppliers which fulfil the relevant certifications, with a view to ensuring that the vaccines are properly handled once delivered to Hong Kong.
 
     We estimate that starting in February, members of the public can get vaccinated through vaccination programmes led by the Government free of charge. Our goal is to provide vaccines for the majority of the population within 2021. Having considered experts’ views, we will provide vaccination for priority groups first, including groups which have higher risks of coming into contact with the COVID-19 virus, groups which have greater mortality rates after contracting the disease, and groups which may easily transmit the virus to others, the vulnerable or weak if infected (e.g. healthcare workers, elders and staff of residential care homes). Furthermore, we are reviewing other target groups which may need to receive vaccination early due to their work nature or other needs, including those who are particularly crucial to the infrastructure and operations of Hong Kong.
 
     In view that the vaccine developed by BioNTech in collaboration with Fosun Pharma has more stringent requirements for transport and storage (the vaccines must be stored in -70 degrees Celsius, and can only survive in a two to eight degrees Celsius environment for five days) and also require thawing procedures, in order to ensure the quality of the vaccines and that the vaccination procedures adhere to requirements, we will set up Community Vaccination Centres in 18 districts in Hong Kong. As regards the other two vaccines, we expect that they will be handled following the arrangements for seasonal influenza in general, under which vaccination will be provided to members of the public through private hospitals and clinics. Members of the public will receive a vaccination card for record after vaccination. The relevant record can be uploaded to the Electronic Health Record Sharing System. The COVID-19 Electronic Testing Record System launched by the Government will also include an “Electronic Vaccination Record” feature for convenient download by the public.
       
     The DH has always had a pharmacovigilance system for handling reports of adverse events that occur after vaccination. The DH will make reference to guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), step up monitoring of potential adverse events after vaccination, and keep in view and refer to the safety and efficacy assessment of the vaccines promulgated by the drug regulatory authorities of advance countries and regions and the WHO. Therefore, the Government is making preparations to set up an Indemnity Fund. In the event members of the public encounter a severe adverse event associated with the administration of a vaccine, the fund will cover the indemnities determined by court or arbitration and can provide in advance part of the indemnities in order to make available financial assistance to the member of the public as early as possible.
 
     As regards the publicity and education work, we will disseminate correct information on vaccines and details on the vaccination programme to the public through various channels, including print, electronic and social media, etc., to enable members of the public to adequately grasp the relevant information before vaccination, as well as understand the principles, formulation, usefulness and side effects of the various vaccines, etc. In fact, there is a dedicated page on the Government’s thematic website “Together, We Fight the Virus” that disseminates information on vaccines, including the latest news, frequently asked questions, as well as information charts and short clips, in order to enable the public to grasp the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines. We will also step up monitoring of false information on vaccines within the community and make clarifications and debunk rumours as necessary. We will later set up a thematic website for the vaccination programme, so that members of the public can have one-stop access to correct and the most updated information and messages on vaccines.
 
     Thank you, President. read more

     The Government will launch another round of the Subsidy Scheme for Beauty Parlours, Massage Establishments and Party Rooms under the Anti-epidemic Fund on January 18 (Monday). The application period for the Scheme will run from January 18 to January 29 (Friday).

Beneficiaries

     Beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms that had suspended operations pursuant to the closure order issued by the Government under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) will be eligible for the Scheme. The Scheme is also applicable to beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms operated by social enterprises (SEs). This round of the Scheme will also cover local pleasure vessels let for hire or reward (pleasure vessels). Pleasure vessels holding a valid certificate of survey or a certificate of inspection and an operating licence on a specified date or within a specified period with condition will be eligible for the Scheme.

Subsidy amount

     Each eligible beauty parlour or massage establishment will receive a one-off subsidy depending on its number of workers:
 

Number of workers	Subsidy amount
1 to 2 workers	$30,000
3 to 4 workers	$60,000
5 or more workers	$100,000

     The maximum subsidy amount for beauty parlour or massage establishment chain stores operated by a single entity under the same business registration is $3 million.
 
     Each eligible party room or pleasure vessel will receive a one-off subsidy of $40,000.
 
     A sum of $700 million is earmarked under the Fund for the Scheme. It is expected that the subsidy could be disbursed from early next month onwards.

Application methods

Beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms with business registration

     In line with the arrangement for the previous two rounds of the Scheme, a dedicated website (bmpsubsidy.gov.hk) will be provided to receive online applications from beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms with a business registration. Such applicants are required to submit applications and supporting documents through this website. The online application system will commence operation at 9am on January 18. The deadline for application is 11.59pm on January 29.

     To streamline the application procedure, a fast-track arrangement is in place for eligible beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms which have successfully applied under the last round of the Scheme. Such applicants will not be required to provide business information and other supporting documents afresh in tendering their applications. After inputting their application number under the last round of the Scheme and their business registration number and mobile phone number on the online application system, the system will automatically retrieve their essential business information submitted under the last round of the Scheme. Applicants will be deemed eligible for the Scheme by confirming the accuracy of the information retrieved and that they are still in active business and fulfil all other requirements of the Scheme. The appropriate levels of subsidy that beauty parlours or massage establishments should receive will be determined based on the number of employees as confirmed in the approval records of the last round.

     As for businesses which have not applied under the last round of the Scheme, businesses which have applied under the last round but are pending their application/appeal results, and businesses which have successfully applied under the last round with changes in business information, they will have to submit fresh applications through the online application system.

Beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms operated by SEs

     SE operators of beauty parlours, massage establishments and party rooms without a business registration should directly approach the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) via its hotline (2864 2993) or email (sebc@hkcss.org.hk) to obtain its certification and submit their applications. However, SE operators with a business registration should file their applications through the Scheme’s dedicated online application website within the application period.

Pleasure vessels

     The Marine Department will issue a notification letter to the owners of all eligible pleasure vessels by end January. The Department will handle the relevant procedures and the disbursement of the subsidy. Owners of pleasure vessels do not need to use the online application system to file an application.

Information and enquiries

     Details of the eligibility criteria, the terms and conditions of the applications and Frequently Asked Questions will be available on the application website of the Scheme. Applicants are advised to go through this important information before submitting applications. A dedicated telephone hotline (1836 188) and email (info@bmpsubsidy.hk) will commence operation at 9am tomorrow (January 14) to handle enquiries on the details of the Scheme. As for enquiries regarding the details of the subsidy for pleasure vessels under the Scheme, owners of pleasure vessels may contact the Marine Department (2852 4931). SEs may contact the HKCSS (2864 2993). read more

     In view of the cold weather, the Home Affairs Department has opened 18 temporary shelters today (January 13) for people in need of the service.
    
     The temporary shelters have been operating since last Thursday (January 7), and will remain open during the daytime tomorrow (January 14) when the cold weather warning is still in force.
 
     To ensure that cold shelter users can rest in a quiet and undisturbed environment, members of the public or agencies wishing to make donations to shelter users are requested to register with the staff of the shelter first. Donors will then be directed to place the donated items at a specified indoor location. The staff will help notify the shelter users to collect the items on their own.
 
     Anyone seeking temporary refuge or with any questions about the donation arrangements at the cold shelters may call the department’s hotline 2572 8427 for more information.
 
     The 18 temporary cold shelters are located at:
 
Hong Kong Districts:
——————–
 
Central and Western:
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall
3/F, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, 2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
 
Eastern:
Causeway Bay Community Centre
3/F, 7 Fook Yum Road, Causeway Bay
 
Southern:
Lei Tung Community Hall
Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau
 
Wan Chai:
Wan Chai Activities Centre
LG/F, Wan Chai Market, 258 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
 
Kowloon Districts:
——————
 
Kowloon City:
Hung Hom Community Hall
1/F, Kowloon City Government Offices, 42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom
 
Kwun Tong:
Lam Tin (West) Estate Community Centre
71 Kai Tin Road, Lam Tin
 
Sham Shui Po:
Nam Cheong District Community Centre
1 Cheong San Lane, Sham Shui Po
 
Wong Tai Sin:
Tsz Wan Shan (South) Estate Community Centre
45 Wan Wah Street, Tsz Wan Shan
 
Yau Tsim Mong:
Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre
60 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
 
New Territories:
—————-
 
Islands:
Tung Chung Community Hall
G/F, Tung Chung Municipal Services Building,
39 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung
 
Kwai Tsing:
Tai Wo Hau Estate Community Centre
15 Tai Wo Hau Road, Kwai Chung
 
North:
Cheung Wah Community Hall
Cheung Wah Estate, Fanling
 
Sai Kung:
King Lam Neighbourhood Community Centre
King Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O
 
Sha Tin:
Lung Hang Estate Community Centre
Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin
 
Tai Po:
Tai Po Community Centre
2 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po
 
Tsuen Wan:
Lei Muk Shue Community Hall
G/F, Hong Shue House, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Tsuen Wan
 
Tuen Mun:
Butterfly Bay Community Centre
Butterfly Estate (near Tip Sum House), Tuen Mun
 
Yuen Long:
Long Ping Community Hall
Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Leung Che-cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (January 13):
 
     Under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, the Government provides health care vouchers (HCVs) of a total value of $2,000 on January 1 each year to eligible elderly people aged 65 or above to subsidise them in using the private primary healthcare services provided by healthcare professionals. The unused HCVs each year may be retained for use in future, but the excess above the limit of accumulated value (which has been increased from $4,000 in 2014 to $5,000 and $8,000 in 2018 and 2019 respectively) will be forfeited. Some elderly people have relayed recently that they used healthcare services less last year due to the rampant epidemic, which resulted in some of their HCVs being forfeited. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) among the eligible elderly people, of the number and percentage of them who used HCVs, in each of the past three years;
 
(2) of the number of elderly people who had HCVs under their names forfeited in each of the past three years because the accumulated value of their HCVs had exceeded the limit, as well as the total value of HCVs involved; and
 
(3) whether it will consider raising the limit of accumulated value of HCVs to $10,000, so that the elderly people may use HCVs to obtain more healthcare services when the epidemic is over; if not, of the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (the Scheme) in 2009 to provide subsidies for eligible elders to choose private primary healthcare services in their local communities that best suit their health needs.  Currently, vouchers can be spent on healthcare services provided by medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers, medical laboratory technologists, chiropractors and optometrists with Part I registration under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Cap. 359).
 
     My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Leung Che-cheung is as follows:
 
(1) The number of eligible elders who had used vouchers under the Scheme in the past three years and the percentage out of the eligible elderly population are set out below:
 

	2018	2019	2020
Cumulative number of elders who had used vouchers by the end of the year	1 191 000	1 294 000	1 350 000
Number of eligible elders (i.e. elders aged 65 years or above)*	1 266 000	1 325 000	1 376 000
Percentage of elders out of the eligible elderly population who had ever used vouchers	94%	98%	98%

*Source：”Hong Kong Population Projections 2017-2066″ from the Census and Statistics Department
 
(2) The number of elders who had voucher amounts forfeited on January 1 of 2019, 2020 and 2021 due to the voucher amount in their voucher accounts exceeding the accumulation limit and the corresponding amount of vouchers involved are set out below –
 

	January 1, 2019	January 1, 2020 (Note)	January 1, 2021
The number of elders who had voucher amounts forfeited due to the voucher amount in their voucher accounts exceeding the accumulation limit	266 000	—	182 000
Total amount of vouchers forfeited due to the exceeding of the accumulation limit (HK$ thousand)	310,737	—	229,966

Note: The accumulation limit of vouchers was $5,000 on January 1, 2019. An additional $1,000 worth of vouchers was provided, on a one-off basis, to each eligible elder on June 26, 2019. The accumulation limit of vouchers was also increased to $8,000 on the same day. In general, at the end of 2019, the maximum amount of vouchers that elders could accumulate in their account was $6,000. Hence, basically no elders had voucher amounts forfeited on January 1, 2020 due to the voucher amount in their voucher accounts exceeding the accumulation limit of $8,000.
 
(3) To facilitate the use of vouchers by elders, the Government has implemented a number of enhancements to the Scheme in recent years, including progressively increasing the annual voucher amount from the initial $250 to the current $2,000, changing the face value of each voucher from $50 to $1 in 2014 to make it more flexible for use, as well as lowering the eligibility age from 70 to 65 in 2017. The Government also provided an additional one-off $1,000 voucher amount to each eligible elder in 2018 and 2019 as a Budget measure. The accumulation limit of vouchers was increased to $8,000 in June 2019 to facilitate elders to plan for the use of their vouchers. Furthermore, the Government regularised the Pilot Scheme at the University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) in June 2019 to provide greater certainty for Hong Kong elders to continue to use vouchers at HKU-SZH. To complement the commencement of operation of the Kwai Tsing District Health Centre (DHC) in September 2019, the Government also allows the use of vouchers to pay for the services at DHCs, in order to increase the options of primary healthcare services available to elders under the Scheme.
 
     Currently, there is no restriction on the number of years that an elder may carry forward unspent vouchers, but the unspent amount cannot exceed the accumulation limit of $8,000. To help elders better manage their voucher balances and plan ahead, the Department of Health (DH) has enhanced the function for checking voucher balances on the Scheme’s website and voucher balance enquiry hotline in June 2019, allowing elders to check the amount of vouchers that will be disbursed to their accounts and the amount of vouchers expected to be forfeited due to the accumulation limit being exceeded on January 1 of the coming year. Elders can also check their voucher balance and their transaction history in the past two years via the Electronic Health Record Sharing System mobile app, which is planned to be launched in the first quarter of this year.
 
     The review on the Scheme completed by the DH in 2019 concluded that with respect to strengthening primary healthcare, the Scheme still had room to improve in some areas, including not yet being able to more effectively facilitate healthcare service providers to provide and elders to use services which are in line with the Primary Healthcare Reference Framework, and enhance elders’ awareness of prevention of various diseases and promote healthy living, etc. When considering whether to increase the accumulation limit of vouchers, the Government has to balance various factors, including the need to encourage elders to make use of services that best suit their health needs rather than saving up the vouchers excessively, whether the plan has provided sufficient flexibility for elders to spend the vouchers, as well as the impact on budgeting and planning from the perspective of public finances etc. The Government has no plan to further increase the accumulation limit of voucher at this stage. We will continue to keep in view the operation of the Scheme and make appropriate adjustments and take suitable measures as necessary, in order to ensure that the Scheme continues to align with the Government’s policy objectives. read more