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Subtheme 3.2 – The opaque pricing of private healthcare services is a challenge to
improving health financing mechanisms. The private sector in Hong Kong is almost
completely autonomous to set their own pricing rules. As mentioned in
Theme 1, the new Cap. 633 Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Box 4.2) is thought to
provide insufficient regulation. Pricing structures are often opaque and patients are charged
for hidden fees without prior notice, thereby increasing the difficulty of providing comprehensive
Government subsidies for private sector services.

Stakeholders’ voices

How would the Government know how much private practitioners would
charge…? Even if the Government gives them money, there’s no regulation
and so the general practitioner (GP) can always charge more… How do the
patients negotiate for proper fees? Never. It will be fairer if the private
sector has transparency of the charges and all that.
Academic

Healthcare costs in the private sector create a huge burden for most Hong Kong
citizens. Worse still, the costs are not transparent and often unknown.

Private service provider

A suggested reason for the low uptake of medical insurance in Hong Kong is the mismatch
between insurance products and consumer expectations. Stakeholders raised
concerns towards insurance providers for their lack of vision and general unwillingness to
increase coverage, quoting the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) launched by the
Government, which has been characterised by the absence of a high-risk pool, expensive
premiums, and narrow service coverage. Nonetheless, certain insurance providers view this
as a deadlock situation where they are forced to set high premiums due to lack of
transparency in services charges.

Stakeholders’ voices

Even if they (the patients) have joined certain insurance schemes,
the coverage is usually unclear. Yet, they cannot afford high-end
products with broader coverage.
Private service provider

What is it about Hong Kong insurance companies–a lot of
products, a rip-off–everybody knows that.
Academic

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