There's no way Hong Kong's public healthcare system will be sustainable in the long term if the government continues to subsidise nearly all of the expenses, according to an adviser tasked with reforming the body managing the hospitals.

The government is currently reviewing fees and charges for public hospital services, with details to be announced by Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau on Tuesday.

Franklin Lam, who sits on the Hospital Authority's Governance and Structure Reform Committee, stressed the need for patients to shoulder more of their expenses.

"Currently the government covers more than 97 percent of public healthcare expenses," he said.

"For every HK$100 spent, the patient only pays around HK$2.

"That is the lowest in the world," he said.

By comparison, Lam pointed out that Singapore subsidises around 80 percent of healthcare costs for the underprivileged and less for those who earn more.

According to the latest budget in Hong Kong, healthcare expenditure for 2025/26 will reach HK$115 billion, a 5.6 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.

"If you divide that expenditure by the labour force of 3.8 million, each worker receives around HK$30,000 [in subsidies]," Lam added.

"Public health expenditure is also 1.4 times the revenue from salaries' tax," Lam added.

But while fees and charges for public services could go up, he suggested it was "quite likely" there would be a cap for patients.

"Say, there is annual cap of HK$10,000 for each patient...," he said.

"That's about 2 percent of median family income.

"Would people decide not to see a doctor just because they have to spend HK$10,000? I don't think so," he said.

The Hong Kong Public Doctors' Association also agreed on the need to adjust public hospital charges and called for understanding from all parties.

One of the possible adjustments could come from the accident and emergency department, with patients triaged into less urgent categories paying more than the current flat fee of HK$180.

Association chairman Christopher Lung said he hopes authorities can clearly explain the fee schedule to the public, while providing adequate guidelines for medics.

"Patients are triaged based on objective data such as symptoms and vital signs. But sometimes they are not satisfied and get into confrontations with frontline medics," he said.

Lung also suggested the new fee levels align with those in the private sector so as to ease the strain on public hospitals.
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Last updated: 2025-03-24 HKT 16:00