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No subsdised public health care for you

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  1. #11

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    I don't think costs will go down but in theory revenue will go up. The real test will come when an overstayer requires emergency treatment. If, as seems likely, the overstayer can't afford the treatment, will they be left to die?

  2. #12

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    That is where the government excels - wasting time and money, well mainly money.
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  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by dipstick:
    The real test will come when an overstayer requires emergency treatment. If, as seems likely, the overstayer can't afford the treatment, will they be left to die?
    Of course not. Emergency treatment is available to everyone in Hong Kong, legal or not. The nominal fee for A&E as a non-eligible person is HK$990, but obviously in A&E they treat first and look for money later, as noted here: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...and-safety.jsp
    Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 24-09-2013 at 04:36 PM.
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  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by dipstick:
    I don't think costs will go down but in theory revenue will go up. The real test will come when an overstayer requires emergency treatment. If, as seems likely, the overstayer can't afford the treatment, will they be left to die?
    Where do you think this is, 'Murica?

    *tongue firmly in cheek*
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  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Trebor:
    Will immigration also take action on the overstayers when they get 'flagged'?
    Looking at the 2011 Paper, no.

    The dedicated electronic system in public hospitals/clinics will be used exclusively by authorized staff of DH and HA for the sole purpose of verifying whether the limit of stay of a holder of non-permanent HKIC is valid when accessing our service. Measures will be put in place to safeguard data security of the system.

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gruntfuttock:
    Of course not. Emergency treatment is available to everyone in Hong Kong, legal or not. The nominal fee for A&E as a non-eligible person is HK$990, but obviously in A&E they treat first and look for money later, as noted here: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...and-safety.jsp
    That might be the nominal fee, but from experience they ask for a deposit of HK$30,000 to cover potential costs.

    So if they treat first and look for money afterwards then the supposed cost savings/revenue increase is likely to be a lot less than predicted. What it really does is catch the illegals.

  7. #17

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    Again from the Paper, manual checking was considered:

    We have also considered the other option of performing manual checking of the travel documents of non-permanent HKIC-holders each time they seek service at public hospitals/clinics. Given that medical services are instantaneously required by a patient coming to our public hospital/clinic for treatment, the checking of the eligibility for subsidised services should be conducted instantly on the spot. Taking into account the massive volume of daily uses of our healthcare services at the public hospitals and clinics by the general public, we consider that any additional procedures for manual checking procedures would likely lengthen the registration for patients and increase the waiting time for all patients, including the permanent residents and the bona fide non-permanent residents. We therefore consider it not feasible to conduct manual checking to ascertain the eligibility of holders of non-permanent HKIC for our subsidised public healthcare service because of the adverse impact on our service.

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by dipstick:
    That might be the nominal fee, but from experience they ask for a deposit of HK$30,000 to cover potential costs.
    Just to be clear, that was in a public hospital when attending as a genuine emergency?

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gruntfuttock:
    Of course not. Emergency treatment is available to everyone in Hong Kong, legal or not. The nominal fee for A&E as a non-eligible person is HK$990, but obviously in A&E they treat first and look for money later, as noted here: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/...and-safety.jsp
    That's correct. I won't say it's a strict "rule", but the basic practice of all the HK medical services is to save lives, regardless of who they are or what nationality they hold. If someone showed up with an emergency situation (i.e. life threatening issue that will result in prompt death unless given immediate care and attention), then the hospital won't turn away them, regardless of whether they are permanent resident or not. The same I think applies to most medical systems in the West.

    I'm afraid the same cannot be said of mainland hospitals...at least certain mainland hospitals:

    http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7998049.html
    Last edited by Watercooler; 24-09-2013 at 05:41 PM.

  10. #20

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    Deposit.

    I think they will treat you immediately. If they decide that you need to be admitted, they will ask you to pay the deposit.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gruntfuttock:
    Just to be clear, that was in a public hospital when attending as a genuine emergency?

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