Press Releases
First stage of consultation on healthcare reform ends(With video)
Members of the public have expressed impartial, constructive and forward-looking
views on healthcare reform and supplementary financing options to the Government
during the three-month consultation period which ended today (June 13), the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, said.
"Their views have helped us better understand public expectations on healthcare
reform. We will formulate proposals for the second stage of our public
consultation that meet their concerns in the hope of reaching a consensus," Dr
Chow said.
Officials of the Food and Health Bureau had attended more than 150 forums
organised by different sectors. Dr Chow had joined more than 40 briefings,
including those organised by the 18 District Councils.
"My impression is that our citizens took to heart matters that concern their
community. They are also willing to discuss the long-term healthcare reform in a
sensible and down-to-earth manner," Dr Chow said.
The Government also identified three areas on service reform that attracted
public concern:
* How to further improve the service quality, resource management and
cost-effectiveness of public healthcare services, particularly in the
positioning and monitoring of services as well as resource allocation by the
Hospital Authority, to ensure that the public healthcare system can continue to
meet the basic health needs of the public, particularly the disadvantaged.
* How to ensure that fees paid by patients for private healthcare services and
health insurance are value for money. This includes how to improve the
transparency of the charging mechanism of private healthcare services,
strengthen the monitoring of service quality and impose proper regulation on
health insurance.
* How to ensure that both the software and hardware of the healthcare system can
meet the increasing future demand. Apart from providing more land, more room for
development and more resources for hospitals, primary care and other healthcare
infrastructure, there is also a need for making corresponding arrangements in
training and in the supply of healthcare professionals.
The supplementary financing option was a key aspect which drew enthusiastic
feedback from the public. Although some people claimed that the Government had
attempted to shirk its responsibility and rob the people through financing
arrangements, many people asked the Government to work out solutions before the
problem got out of hand.
"After this round of discussions, there are a few key issues which we have to
address in the next stage," Dr Chow said.
These include:
* The public wants to know clearly how the Government spends their health money,
what services could be improved, what services would require financing in order
to be sustained, and the Government's long-term commitment to healthcare.
* How individual citizens, employers and the Government contribute in a
financing option which involves personal contribution, particularly when the
three parties have already taken up a certain proportion of the current health
expenditure. The public would also like to know how the Government will spend
the $50 billion to kick start the healthcare financing reform.
* The public is very concerned about the kind of healthcare protection they
could get by contributing to a financing option. For example, some people are
concerned about whether private health insurance could bring better protection,
or whether a government-run or managed insurance system could give them more
confidence.
"Thanks to the valuable views given by the community, including legislators,
District Council members, healthcare and professional bodies, and community and
district bodies, we can find the direction for our future work.
"We hope to launch our second-stage consultation in the first half of next
year," Dr Chow said.
The bureau had received more than 4,300 submissions from individuals and
organisations. These included some 3,200 standard forms, 100 submissions from
organisations and 1,000 submissions from individuals. A survey by questionnaire
and focus group discussion are underway to collect more public opinion and
views.
Ends/Friday, June 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:01
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