Providing more convenience to elderly residents, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has decided to extend its Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme to Zhuhai in Guangdong province.

Two medical institutions in Zhuhai - the Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University and Zhuhai People's Hospital - will launch the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme starting from Thursday, a spokesperson for the SAR government said in a statement on Monday.

The hospitals will accept eligible elderly persons from the HKSAR to use the vouchers to pay for outpatient healthcare services, the spokesperson said.

The vouchers are applicable for outpatient healthcare services provided by 16 designated departments at the Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University and 15 designated departments at Zhuhai People's Hospital, the spokesperson added.

With the two additional service points, the number of service points in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area where the elderly health care vouchers can be used will increase to 11, benefiting more than 1.78 million eligible Hong Kong elderly persons, the government pointed out.

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The arrangements for shared use of the vouchers between spouses and the pilot reward scheme under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme are equally applicable to the two hospitals in Zhuhai, according to the spokesperson.

When an elderly person receives designated primary healthcare outpatient services for health checks, preventive health services, and follow-up/monitoring of long-term conditions at the designated departments, the voucher spending for that service encounter can be accumulated for the allotment of rewards, the government spokesperson explained.

The fees for healthcare services provided by the medical institutions are denominated in renminbi. The institutions will make claims for elderly persons, and the voucher amount deducted in Hong Kong dollars will be calculated according to a monthly updated voucher conversion factor under the Scheme.

The spokesperson reminded elderly persons that they cannot use elderly health care vouchers together with national medical insurance to pay for the fees of the same healthcare service encounter.

“The scope of using elderly health care vouchers on the mainland is the same as that in Hong Kong, which does not include inpatient services, prepaid healthcare services and day surgery procedures,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also reminded elderly persons that they should register with eHealth before using the vouchers at any designated service point in the GBA.

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Launched by the government in 2009, the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme currently subsidizes eligible Hong Kong elderly persons aged 65 and above with an annual voucher amount of HK$2,000 for them to choose in their own community private primary healthcare services.