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Following is a question by Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (July 17):
Question:
It is learnt that due to the appreciation of Renminbi and continuous rise of commodity prices on the Mainland in recent years, more and more Hong Kong elderly people who had moved to and settled on the Mainland have returned to Hong Kong for resettlement and admission to local residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs). Although the Social Welfare Department (SWD) intends to introduce a scheme within this year to allow eligible Hong Kong elderly people who have moved to and settled in Guangdong Province to continue to receive the Old Age Allowance without requiring them to return to Hong Kong, such elderly people are still unable to enjoy other welfare benefits in Hong Kong, such as elderly health care vouchers and Old Age Living Allowance (OALA). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of elderly people returning from various provinces on the Mainland to Hong Kong for resettlement in each of the past three years, as well as the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of Hong Kong elderly people who had moved to and settled on the Mainland;
(b) among the elderly people who had returned to Hong Kong from the Mainland for resettlement in the past three years, of the number of those who had sought assistance from SWD after returning to Hong Kong, such as applying for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and for admission to subsidised RCHEs, together with a breakdown by type of assistance sought;
(c) whether the authorities have analysed the reasons for Hong Kong elderly people returning from the Mainland for resettlement in Hong Kong, and assessed the impact of their return to resettle in Hong Kong on the demand for social welfare services in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) given that there are quite a number of RCHEs on the Mainland at present which are operated by non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong for accommodating elderly people from Hong Kong, but their occupancy rates have persistently remained on the low side, whether the authorities have considered including such RCHEs in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme, with a view to, on the one hand, providing more choices to the elderly people waiting for admission to subsidised RCHEs and, on the other, providing services to those Hong Kong elderly people who have moved to and settled on the Mainland; and
(e) given that Hong Kong elderly people who have moved to and settled on the Mainland are entitled to neither the medical benefits and social services on the Mainland nor certain social welfare benefits in Hong Kong, whether the authorities will expeditiously study the feasibility of providing OALA to elderly people residing in Guangdong and, in the long run, consider providing such elderly people with the social welfare benefits enjoyed by local elderly people, such as elderly health care vouchers and community care service vouchers for the elderly; if they will, of the relevant study and timetable?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by Hon Wong Kwok-kin is as follows:
(a) and (b) The Administration has not compiled any statistics on the number of elderly people returning from various provinces on the Mainland to Hong Kong for resettlement each year. Under the Portable Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (PCSSA) Scheme, recipients residing in Guangdong or Fujian may receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) therein. As at the end of April 2013, there were 2 167 cases under the PCSSA Scheme. In the past three years, the number of cases of PCSSA recipients who chose to return to Hong Kong for resettlement and continued to receive CSSA is as follows:
Year 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
(as at
May 2013)
---- ------- ------- ------- ---------
Number 110 121 114 17
of
cases
At present, elderly persons with proven needs for long-term care services as assessed under SWD's Standardised Care Needs Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services would be provided with appropriate subsidised community care services and/or residential care services (RCS). In assessing the long-term care needs of elderly persons, SWD does not require the applicants to state whether they have resided on the Mainland before. As such, SWD has not compiled records of the number of applications for subsidised RCS by elderly persons who returned from the Mainland.
Upon return to Hong Kong from the Mainland, elderly persons may approach District Elderly Community Centres, Social Security Field Units, Integrated Family Service Centres or Integrated Services Centres for assistance. The services provided by these service units include provision of information, counselling, emergency assistance, supportive group, referral service, etc. When SWD provides the services, the applicants are not required to state whether they have resided on the Mainland before. SWD therefore has not compiled any statistics on the number of elderly persons concerned.
(c) As we understand it, when elderly persons residing on the Mainland consider whether to resettle in Hong Kong, they will take into consideration various factors, including family needs, personal and family's financial situation, comparison of living standard and environment between the Mainland and Hong Kong, etc., and some of them choose to resettle in Hong Kong when their health conditions deteriorate.
As mentioned in parts (a) and (b) above, when SWD now provides various services to the applicants, it does not require them to state whether they have resided on the Mainland before. SWD therefore has not studied the impact on the demand for social welfare services in Hong Kong arising from Hong Kong elderly persons returning from the Mainland.
(d) At present, there are two elderly homes operated by Hong Kong non-governmental organisations on the Mainland. These two elderly homes are located at Yantien and Zhaoqing respectively. We will explore the feasibility of providing the elderly applicants with proven needs for RCS under the assessment mechanism an option to live in the two homes.
(e) SWD will implement the Guangdong Scheme by this November to provide Old Age Allowance for eligible Hong Kong elderly people who choose to reside in Guangdong. After implementing OALA and the Guangdong Scheme for a period of time, we will explore the feasibility of allowing elderly people who choose to reside in Guangdong to receive OALA there.
The Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly (Pilot Scheme) will last for four years, and the first phase (lasting for two years) will be implemented this September. The Pilot Scheme aims to test the viability of the "money-follows-the-user" new funding mode in Hong Kong. The Administration at this stage has no plan to implement the Pilot Scheme on the Mainland.
At present, the Elderly Health Care Voucher is only applicable to elderly persons receiving private primary care services provided by Hong Kong registered healthcare professionals in the territory. The Administration at this stage has no plan to extend the Elderly Health Care Voucher to healthcare services provided outside Hong Kong. The Administration will further review the scheme at an opportune time when the enhancements to the scheme have been implemented for a period of time.
Ends/Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:59
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