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| Elderly couples must be together to register the pairing of their vouchers (Caritas photo) |
Eligible elderly persons or those aged 65 and above, who are in a spousal relationship in Hong Kong, will be able to share the use of each other’s health care vouchers from Friday, July 28.
The move is part of the measures to enhance the
Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme as announced by the Chief Executive in his Policy
Address last year.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE! |
The spouses need to pair up their voucher accounts before
a health care provider to avail of this new benefit. After pairing, either
spouse can, upon exhaustion of his/her voucher account balance, use the other spouse’s
account.
As of this year, each elderly resident is entitled
to a $2000 voucher which they can use to seek private health care, including
from dentists and optometrists. All unused vouchers can be accumulated up to
$8,000, thus allowing both spouses to share a maximum pool of $16,000.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Elderly couples who wish to share their accounts
will not be required to register in advance. Instead, either of them who uses
the voucher to pay for healthcare services, must be accompanied by the other to
register for the pairing scheme in front of the service provider.
The partners will not be allowed to provide any
documentary proof of spousal relationship, but they must declare their consent
to share the use of their vouchers.
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If either spouse is unable to register in person due
to exceptional circumstances such as being bedridden, he or she can complete
and sign a consent form which the other party may bring, along with a copy of
the incapacitated HKID card, to register.
Once the pairing of accounts is done, there is no
further need to register for the scheme again when the vouchers are used. However,
each time an elderly person uses his or her spouse’s voucher balance a copy of
the latest HKID card of the one whose account is being used.
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| BASAHIN DITO |
At the same time, a notification via SMS will be
sent to the spouse whose account is being used through a listed contact mobile
phone number to make him/her aware of the account pairing.
The Department of Health will conduct regular or random
checks to ensure the proper use of public funds.
Previously, the DH held briefing sessions for
healthcare service staff to make them better understand the procedures for
pairing elderly couple’s voucher accounts.
The new policy could benefit around 950,000 elderly
people who are married in Hong Kong,
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| PADALA NA! |
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