Reviewing health care fees and charges is one of the many options to deal with the Hospital Authority's budget deficit, but there is no final decision that the charge for Accident & Emergency service would be raised to $150, the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said today.

In the long run Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Dr York Chow also intends to work out a framework from health care financing for public discussion.

The bureau said the guiding principle for A&E service charges is to encourage non-urgent patients to see family doctors or to use non-emergency services so as to build up a more stable relationship between patients and doctors.

The aim of the charge revision is to bring the A&E service charge closer to charges by private medical practitioners so that non-urgent patients can be encouraged to see nearby family doctors. Last year 78 per cent of the users of the A&E service were non-urgent patients.

The bureau hopes the public will have a better idea of the value of A&E and other public health care services. At present, the subsidy level of public health care services from Government public spending is 98 per cent, and this gives rise to the budget deficit faced by the Hospital Authority. Though many cost-cutting measures are in place, if the deficit is not properly dealt with, the public health care system will be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Fees for in-patient beds

Concerning media reports suggesting that the fees for in-patient beds would be increased from the present $100 per day to about $300-$500, the bureau said the average operating cost for an in-patient bed was $3,300, and tests such as X-ray, scanning and blood tests were also included. Therefore, the Government was subsidising over $3,000 for each bed every day.

Also, the difference in fees between an acute in-patient bed ($100 a day) and a convalescent bed ($68 a day) is small but there is a huge difference in service cost. The 2004 service cost for acute beds was $4,100 a day compared with only $1,600 for convalescent beds. So there is a need to adjust the fees for the two services to encourage patients who are recovering to leave their acute bed for those who are in need and move to a convalescent bed.

The bureau repeated that those who have been enjoying fee exemption or waiver under the present healthcare policy, including the low paid, recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and those with acute illness, will not be affected by future fee adjustments.