The number of approved public medical fee waiver applications from low-income families in Hong Kong surged to over 224,000 in the first three months of the year, up more than 11-fold from the 19,300 approved for the whole of 2025, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said Wednesday.

Answering a query at the Legislative Council, Lo said the Hospital Authority approved 214,978 full waivers as of March 31, benefitting 183,400 patients and amounting to a total of HK$235 million ($29.98 million) in fees waived since the reform of public healthcare fees and charges took effect on Jan 1.

The HA also authorized 9,061 partial waivers to help 6,800 patients, up from the 515 partial waivers approved for the whole of last year which helped 700 individuals.

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“The number of medical fee waiver applications approved by the HA has significantly increased by multiple times compared with the past, demonstrating that the reform has effectively strengthened support for low-income families and underprivileged groups,” Lo said in a written reply to the query of LegCo member Yiu Ming.

While new hospital fees were introduced under the reform, the HA also expanded its medical fee waiver mechanism, increasing the number of residents who could potentially benefit from about 900,000 to about 2 million.

“This enables limited healthcare resources to be more precisely directed to help the 'poor' patients among the ‘poor, acute, serious, critical’ patients who are most in need, while ensuring that no patient is denied medical care due to lack of means,” Lo said.

The HA also introduced an annual cap on fees and charges of HK$10,000, which is not subject to financial assessment, for all Hong Kong residents.

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As of March 31, the HA has approved 2,953 applications under this annual cap, helping provide more comprehensive protection for patients with serious or chronic illnesses or heavy users of public healthcare services, Lo said.

“Citizens approved are not required to pay any fees for eligible healthcare services within the relevant year, thereby further alleviating the financial burden on their families arising from long‑term medical expenses,” he added.

The HA also continued to provide waivers for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients, among whom 177,000 have benefitted since the start of the year.