FAQs for Voucher Recipients

A: Elderly person aged 65 or above who holds a valid HKIC within the meaning of the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Cap. 177) or a valid Certificate of Exemption within the meaning of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115), except for those who obtained a HKIC by virtue of a previous permission to land or remain in Hong Kong granted to him/ her and such permission has expired or ceased to be valid, is eligible for using the vouchers even if he/she is not a permanent resident.

A: Yes. All elderly residents aged 65 or above, except for those who obtained a HKIC by virtue of a previous permission to land or remain in Hong Kong granted to him/ her and such permission has expired or ceased to be valid, are eligible for using the health care vouchers.

A: Health care vouchers can be used for private (non-subsidized) healthcare services. Based on principle of avoiding double subsidy by the Government, unless otherwise specified, vouchers cannot be used for public services or those directly subsidized by the Government (including the publicly subsidized healthcare services purchased from the private sector). Health care vouchers can be used for healthcare services provided by charitable organizations, non-profit making organizations or other non-government organizations as long as the aforesaid principle is complied with.

A: It depends on the nature of the organizations by which the community nurses are employed. The eligible person can use health care vouchers to pay the services provided by the community nurses employed by private institutions. The principle is to avoid double subsidy by the Government.

A: No. The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme aims at enhancing the primary healthcare services for the elderly persons. Therefore, the vouchers cannot be used for in-patient services.

A: Yes, if the A&E services belong to out-patient services and no in-patient services are involved, the voucher can be used for paying such services. Yet, as the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme aims at enhancing the primary healthcare services for the elderly persons, we hope that healthcare service providers can recommend elderly persons to use their health care vouchers for primary healthcare services.

A: Yes. Health care vouchers can be used for preventive and curative services but not for solely purchasing products such as medications, spectacles, dried seafood, personal care products, food products or medical equipment.

A: No. The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme aims at enhancing the primary healthcare services for the elderly persons, and therefore is not applicable to day surgery procedures.

A: No. Elderly persons are provided with vouchers for using from the year in which they reach 65. For example, an elderly person reaching the age of 65 in October 2023 will be provided with vouchers for using from 1 January 2023. Nevertheless, an elderly person who obtained a HKIC by virtue of a previous permission to land or remain in Hong Kong granted to him/ her and such permission has expired or ceased to be valid is not eligible to use vouchers.

A: In general, 1 January of each year during the Scheme period.

A: In order to facilitate elderly persons, they do not need to register in advance. When an eligible elderly person needs to receive healthcare services and use the vouchers, he/she just has to present his/her HKIC to an enrolled healthcare service provider after receiving the healthcare services in person.

A: Voucher recipients or their carers can browse the list of enrolled healthcare service providers at the Health Care Voucher Scheme website (www.hcv.gov.hk) to obtain the list.

A: No. With a view to avoiding theft of identity and protecting the right and interest in using vouchers, an elderly person is required to show his/her original HKIC for verification of identity by healthcare service providers.

A: No. With a view to avoiding theft of identity and protecting the right and interest in using vouchers, an elderly person is required to show his/her original HKIC for verification of identity by healthcare service providers.

A: No.

A: Unused voucher amount of each year can be retained for use in the following years. The unspent voucher amount can be carried forward and accumulated by an eligible elderly person but subject to an accumulation limit of vouchers of relevant years. There is no restriction on the number of years that an elderly person may carry forward the unspent voucher amount but the cumulative total in the account as at 1 January each year cannot exceed the accumulation limit of that year.

A: Starting from 2019, the amount of vouchers that can be spent by each eligible elderly person on optometry services is capped at $2,000 every two years (Quota). The above arrangement is to allow elderly persons the flexibility to use optometry services whilst preserving a decent balance for use on other primary healthcare services. The amount of vouchers to be used for optometry services is subject to the elderly person’s available voucher balance, available Quota and his/ her wish. For those born in 1955 or after, the 2-year period is counted from 1 January of the year in which they become eligible to use vouchers.

Save for the above, there is no limit on the voucher amount that can be used each time after you receive healthcare services, but it shall NOT exceed the fee for the healthcare service on that occasion.

A: Unused Quota on optometry services will lapse at the end of each cycle. It cannot be carried forward and accumulated to the next 2-year cycle.

A: The 2-year cycle runs from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024, and so on. For those born in 1959 or after, the 2-year cycle is counted from 1 January of the year in which they become eligible to use vouchers.

A: Elderly persons can use vouchers at any clinics of service providers who have enrolled under the Scheme. A Scheme logo will be displayed outside the clinic for easy identification.

A: As long as there are enrolled healthcare service providers providing healthcare services for the eligible elderly persons in the convalescent home, the elderly persons can use the vouchers after receiving the healthcare services concerned in person.

A: No. Any person who makes use of the HKIC of deceased elderly person to use the latter's unspent vouchers might be charged of fraud and subject to criminal liability.

A: Upon deduction of vouchers from the elderly persons’ voucher accounts, enrolled healthcare service providers will provide elderly persons with a “Notice on use of Health Care Voucher” indicating the voucher amount before the visit, claimed for the visit and the remaining voucher amount for use after the visit. Moreover, family members or carers can help elderly persons to check the voucher balance, the amount of vouchers that can be used for optometry services, the amount of vouchers to be deposited in their accounts on 1 January of the coming year and the amount of vouchers expected to be forfeited on that day due to the accumulation limit being exceeded by accessing the voucher balance enquiry though this website or calling the voucher balance enquiry hotline (2838 0511). Elderly persons who have registered with eHealth can also check the above information and voucher transaction records in the past two years by using eHealth App.

A: Guardians are given the legal power by the Guardianship Board to make important decisions relating to personal circumstances for such adults about his/her place of residence or consenting to his/her medical or dental treatment. Guardians may also be given legal power to manage a limited amount of that person’s money. For cases with the Director of Social Welfare as the legal guardian, they will be followed up by social workers of the Social Welfare Department. Regarding elderly persons who are incapable of making their own decisions and have no legal guardian, issues concerned are usually handled by their family members or social workers (not duly authorized) on the premise that the benefit and welfare of the elderly persons are safeguarded. The above arrangements are applicable to the Scheme. The enrolled healthcare service provider needs to show the guardian the “Consent of Witness/Guardian to Transfer Personal Data” which contains the terms that they are required to consent to and the statement of purpose. After reading the above document, the guardian should write his/her name, HKIC number and date on the paper consent form and sign it.

A: If the elderly person is illiterate, he/she can put a mark or finger print on the space for signature to indicate that he/she understands and agrees with the amount of vouchers deducted in the presence of an adult as witness. The enrolled healthcare service provider needs to show the witness the “Consent of Witness/Guardian to Transfer Personal Data” which contains the terms that they are required to consent to and the Statement of Purpose. After reading the above document, the witness should write his/her name, HKIC number and date on the consent form and sign it.

A: Yes. The witness should write his/her name, HKIC number and date on the consent form and sign it (applicable to paper consent form).

A: The elderly person and his/her spouse may visit the practice of an enrolled healthcare service provider together when either of them needs to use the vouchers and present their HKICs or the "Certificate of Exemption" issued by the Immigration Department, and declare their spousal relationship and consent to share use vouchers, the healthcare service provider can then link up their voucher accounts in the eHealth System (Subsidies). From the same day onwards, either party of the elderly couple can, upon exhaustion of one’s own account balance, use his/her spouse’s vouchers for private primary healthcare services, until either party opt out by written request.

A: If for specific reasons, such as physical impairment/ immobility, bedriddenness, etc., the spouse is unable to visit the practice of an enrolled healthcare service provider with the elderly person to link up their voucher accounts, the elderly person and his/her spouse may download the “Consent of Sharing Health Care Vouchers between Voucher Recipients in Spousal Relationship” from the health care voucher webpage and submit the duly completed and signed form to the enrolled healthcare service provider when the service recipient receives healthcare services.

A: Upon successful voucher accounts linkage, the elderly person may choose to use his/ her spouse’s vouchers when his/her account balance is exhausted. There is no cap on the amount to be used, provided that the amount to be used does not exceed the cost of the healthcare services received. The biennial Quota of $2,000 for optometry services for each eligible elderly person remains unchanged (i.e. the quota for optometry services cannot be shared).

A: No, the Quota is calculated on the basis of each elderly person. The unused Quota belongs to the individual voucher recipient irrespective of whether his/ her voucher account is linked to that of his/her spouse or not.

A: Elderly persons are not required to present documentary proof of spousal relationship when linking up their voucher accounts. However, the Government may require the elderly persons to provide relevant documentary proof for inspection if necessary.

A: No. Should the elderly person wish to use his/her spouse's health care vouchers, he/she must present a copy of his/her spouse's latest HKIC. A copy of Hong Kong passport is not acceptable.

A: Yes. The elderly person may opt out of sharing vouchers with his/ her spouse by submitting a written request to the Health Care Voucher Division. The form is available at this link.

A: No. The spouse must be eligible to receive voucher in order to qualify for share-using voucher accounts.

A: No. The elderly person may opt to use the voucher balance in his/her spouse's account only after he/ she has exhausted his /her own voucher account balance.

A: No. Even after registering for shared use of vouchers, the voucher account balance of the deceased will not be transferred to the voucher account of the surviving spouse. A person using the vouchers of the deceased may be charged for offences such as fraud and subject to criminal liability.

A: No. The elderly persons should be vigilant against deception.

A: To encourage the more effective use of private primary healthcare services by elderly persons, a three-year (i.e. from 2024 to 2026) “Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Reward Scheme” is launched under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme. An eligible elderly person who has accumulated use of $1,000 or above vouchers on designated primary healthcare services such as disease prevention or health management within the same year will be allotted $500 reward to his or her voucher account automatically for use on the same purposes. The reward will expire by the end of the following year, and will lapse after the expiry date. The Government has made a special arrangement to allow elderly persons to advance the accumulation of voucher spending for the 2024 reward from 13 November 2023.

A: The reward allotted could be used for receiving designated primary healthcare services in the next visit.

• services on preventive and follow-up/ monitoring of long term conditions provided by medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners and dentists enrolled in the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, for example:
  
  • Medical practitioners: health assessment, body check, screening, vaccination, prescription of preventive drugs, and treatment for chronic diseases, etc.;
  • Chinese medicine practitioners: health assessment and chronic disease management, etc.;
  • Dentists: dental examination, scaling, extraction and filing, etc.;
• services provided under the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus screening services; medical consultations, drugs (if applicable), laboratory investigations, nurse clinic services and allied health services in the treatment phase;
• personalised service at District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses, including the Chronic Disease Management Programme on osteoarthritic knee pain and low back pain; as well as the Community Rehabilitation Programme focusing on post-myocardial infarction, hip fracture and stroke, etc.; and
• outpatient services on preventive and follow-up/monitoring of long term conditions provided at the 11 designated Outpatient Medical Centers of the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital, i.e. Family Medicine Clinic, Health Assessment and Management Center, Accident and Emergency Department, Orthopedic Clinic, Ophthalmology Clinic, Dental Clinic, Chinese Medicine Clinic, Medicine Clinic, Gynaecology Clinic, Surgery Clinic, Rehabilitation Clinic; and the Huawei Li Zhi Yuan Community Health Center.

A: No.

A: The reward allotted will be kept separate from the annual voucher amount for each elderly person. The accumulation limit of vouchers will not be affected.

A: No.

A: If the remaining balance of an elderly person’s voucher account is exhausted and his/her spouse’s voucher is used to pay for designated primary healthcare services, the amount spent will be recorded as his/her own accumulated amount of voucher spending (i.e. service recipient’s instead of his/her spouse’s).

A: When making a voucher claim for designated primary healthcare services, the eHealth System (Subsidies) will automatically deduct the relevant fee from the amount of reward (if available) before deducting the remaining fee (if necessary) from the voucher balance in the voucher account.

A: The quota on optometry services (irrespective of whether the optometry services are provided under the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme or not) for each elderly person remains unchanged at $2,000 every two year after the launch of the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Reward Scheme.

A: After the allotment of reward to an elderly person’s voucher account or after an elderly person has used reward, the eHealth System (Subsidies) will send an SMS message to the designated Hong Kong mobile phone number provided by the elderly person as notification. The balance and expiry date of the reward will also be shown in the SMS. Elderly persons may also check the allotment and balance of reward from the voucher balance enquiry page of the eHealth System (Subsidies), call the voucher balance enquiry hotline (852) 2838 0511, or use the eHealth App installed on their mobile phones. Besides, elderly persons can also check voucher balance and reward information as provided on the “Notice on Use of Health Care Voucher” after receiving healthcare services provided by the healthcare service provider.

A: An elderly person should consult the healthcare service provider when receiving healthcare services for queries on whether the healthcare services received are for designated primary healthcare purposes.

A: No. Elderly persons should stay vigilant against scams.

A: The elderly person may contact the healthcare service provider concerned to clarify the amount charged.