Medical Spendings for Non-refoulement Claimants
Dear Hospital Authority,
I have seen it reported on the media that the Hong Kong Government is spending tax payers' money on medical subsidies, in addition to social welfare and legal subsidies, for asylum seekers and refugees (non-refoulement claimants). May I ask if data for medical costs/reimbursements to non-refoulement claimants since 2008 is available? Is the same set of data (medical costs/reimbursements) for local HKID holders also available for reference?
If not, is the number of asylum seekers and refugees who have successfully applied for medical waiver through the Medical Social Work department annually since 2008 available? What is the number of HKID holders who have successfully applied for medical waiver in the same time period?
If possible, could you also disaggregate such data by hospital cluster / hospital?
Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Agnes Yip
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Hospital Authority ([1]www.ha.org.hk)
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醫院管理局 ([2]www.ha.org.hk)
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医院管理局 ([3]www.ha.org.hk)
Dear Ms Yip,
Thank you for your application dated 18 July 2017.
As the processing of your request involves consultation with various
parties concerned, we are unable to provide you with the information
sought at this stage. You will be advised further in relation to your
request on or before 7 August 2017.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me at 2300
7422 or 2300 6555.
Yours sincerely,
H L Tsang(Ms)
for Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
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Dear Ms Yip,
Further to our reply dated 27 July 2017, please find below the Hospital
Authority’s (HA’s) response:
(1) The HA adopts a “total cost” approach in compiling service costs
for major care types, e.g. inpatient services, outpatient services,
Accident & Emergency (A&E) services and community care services, etc. The
HA does not collate patient level cost information, and therefore costs of
services for a particular type of patient is not available.
According to paragraph 1.14 of the Code on Access to Information, the Code
does not oblige departments to create a record which does not exist.
(2) The number of in-patient cases and out-patient attendance granted
with medical fee waivers in the HA to refugees/asylum
seekers/non-refoulement claimants, recipients of Comprehensive Social
Security Assistance (CSSA) and non-CSSA recipients who are Eligible
Persons^(Note 1) from 2008 to 2016^(Note ^2^) are as follows:
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Refugees/asylum seekers/ non-refoulement claimants
Number of 207 313 650 850 644 401 986 1,452 1,855
in-patient
cases
granted
with
medical
fee
waivers
Number of 3,245 6,370 8,769 9,286 8,518 6,806 11,326 16,174 17,962
outpatient
attendance
granted
with
medical
fee
waivers
CSSA Recipients and Non-CSSA Recipients (Eligible persons)
Number of 303,549 323,213 331,235 325,720 300,825 311,504 325,043 323,445 324,176
inpatient
case
granted
with
medical
fee
waivers
Number of 4,514,734 4,626,090 4,707,075 4,650,821 4,535,782 4,122,095 3,459,111 3,408,286 3,307,552
outpatient
attendance
granted
with
medical
fee
waivers
Note:
(1) Eligible Persons include holders of Hong Kong Identity Card
issued under the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Chapter 177), except
those who obtained their Hong Kong Identity Card by virtue of a previous
permission to land or remain in Hong Kong granted to them and such
permission has expired or ceased to be valid; children who are Hong Kong
residents and under 11 years of age; or other persons approved by the
Chief Executive of the HA.
(2) Information on breakdown of such data by hospital
cluster/hospital is not available. Waived case/attendance is compiled on a
calendar year basis with respect to those waiver cases approved during the
corresponding calendar year.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this
reply.
Yours sincerely,
H L Tsang(Ms)
for Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
(Tel.: 2300 7422/2300 6555)
From: [1][Hospital Authority request email]
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2017 3:51 PM
To: '[FOI #173 email]'
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Medical Spendings for
Non-refoulement Claimants (Application for Access to Information from Ms
Agnes Yip)
Dear Ms Yip,
Thank you for your application dated 18 July 2017.
As the processing of your request involves consultation with various
parties concerned, we are unable to provide you with the information
sought at this stage. You will be advised further in relation to your
request on or before 7 August 2017.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me at 2300
7422 or 2300 6555.
Yours sincerely,
H L Tsang(Ms)
for Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
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