Financing health services through user fees and insurance

Since the late 1950s, Hong Kong’s public health services have increased. They are mainly funded by taxes, supplemented by minimal user fees. In the late 1980s, the government recognized the limitations of this financing model and subsequently proposed alternative methods of funding. Their proposals have been rejected by various stakeholders, who represented different, and even conflicting, values and interests. This paper describes the development of health services and the debates that have surrounded health financing since the late 1980s. It shows that the health finance debate in Hong Kong is not a simple issue that can be tackled by rational planning; instead, it is a complex consequence of welfare politics in an increasingly mobilized society.

Download Full-text

Politics Matters

Research Anthology on Public Health Services, Policies, and Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8960-1.ch025 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 565-575

Author(s):

Raymond K. H. Chan

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Health Financing ◽

User Fees ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Health Finance ◽

Rational Planning ◽

The Government ◽

Welfare Politics

Hong Kong's public health services gradually developed since the 1950s. They are mainly funded by taxes, supplemented by minimal user fees. In the late 1980s, the government recognized the limitations of this financing model and has subsequently proposed alternative methods of funding. Their proposals have been rejected by various stakeholders, who represent different, and even conflicting, values and interests; and eventually can only end up with a limited voluntary health insurance scheme. This chapter describes the development of health services and the debates that have surrounded health financing since the late 1980s. It shows that the health finance debate in Hong Kong is not a simple issue that can be tackled by rational planning; instead, it is a complex consequence of welfare politics in an increasingly mobilized society.

Download Full-text

Politics Matters

Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies - Recent Social, Environmental, and Cultural Issues in East Asian Societies ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-1807-6.ch011 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 188-198

Author(s):

Raymond K. H. Chan

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Health Financing ◽

User Fees ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Health Finance ◽

Rational Planning ◽

The Government ◽

Welfare Politics

Hong Kong's public health services gradually developed since the 1950s. They are mainly funded by taxes, supplemented by minimal user fees. In the late 1980s, the government recognized the limitations of this financing model and has subsequently proposed alternative methods of funding. Their proposals have been rejected by various stakeholders, who represent different, and even conflicting, values and interests; and eventually can only end up with a limited voluntary health insurance scheme. This chapter describes the development of health services and the debates that have surrounded health financing since the late 1980s. It shows that the health finance debate in Hong Kong is not a simple issue that can be tackled by rational planning; instead, it is a complex consequence of welfare politics in an increasingly mobilized society.

Download Full-text