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Following is a question by the Hon Abraham Shek and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue, on the reimbursement of medical expenses by civil servants in the Legislative Council today (March 29):
Question:
In April last year, the Secretary for the Civil Service advised that the Civil Service Bureau(CSB) had put forward proposals to refine the arrangements for reimbursement of medical expenses to eligible persons (i.e. civil servants, pensioners and their eligible dependants), and consultation would be conducted with the staff side of the four central consultative councils. However, I have recently received complaints from several pensioners alleging that drugs of better efficacy were not prescribed to them when they attended the out-patient clinics of public hospitals, and thus they had to purchase these drugs from private pharmacies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the results of the consultation mentioned above and whether CSB has unilaterally made the relevant decision;
(b) whether there have been recent changes in the Hospital Authority's policy regarding the prescription of drugs for eligible persons seeking medical consultation; if so, of the details of and reasons for such changes; and
(c) whether it has assessed if the practice of not prescribing drugs of better efficacy to eligible persons is in breach of the provisions on medical benefits in the Civil Service Regulations?
Reply:
Madam President,
Under the existing policy, medical advice and treatment, X-ray examinations and medicines are available free of charge to civil servants, retired civil servants and other eligible persons (hereafter referred to as "eligible persons") only when these benefits are provided by the Government or Hospital Authority(HA) medical services. Eligible persons may apply to Government for reimbursement of expenses on drugs/equipment/services which form an essential part of the medical treatment as prescribed and certified by the HA attending doctors on medical grounds but which are not available in HA or chargeable by HA.
There has been no change to the existing Government policy on reimbursement of medical expenses to eligible person. In other words, the Government has not imposed any restrictions on the prescription of drugs for eligible persons by HA doctors. HA doctors are to prescribe drugs and other treatment according to the medical necessity of an eligible person. Where the drugs/treatment, which form an essential part of the medical treatment as prescribed and certified by the HA attending doctors on medical grounds, are not available in HA or are chargeable by HA, eligible persons may apply to the Government for reimbursement of the relevant expenses in accordance with the existing arrangement.
The Government is consulting the staff sides of the central consultative councils, through the Standing Committee on Medical and Dental Facilities for Civil Servants, on proposals to improve the existing arrangements for reimbursement of medical expenses to eligible persons. These include providing more elaboration and guidelines to HA doctors on provision of medical certification for eligible persons to apply for reimbursement, and other measures to streamline the existing reimbursement procedures. In accordance with established procedures, we shall consult the staff sides of the central consultative councils before finalising the arrangements.
Ends/Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:06
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