Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ17: Fee for treatment of work-related injuries and occupational diseases
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(October 21):
Question:
In reply to the question I raised at the meeting of this Council on April 22,
2009, the Government indicated that the total costs of services provided by the
Hospital Authority (HA) for work-related injuries in 2007-2008 were $216
million, but the opportunity cost for HA's doctors serving as members of
Employees' Compensation Assessment Boards was not shown. In this connection,
will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the opportunity cost for HA's doctors to serve as members of the above
boards in each of the past five years;
(b) whether it has plans to have the above two types of costs of services borne
by employees' compensation insurance which employers take out for employees; and
(c) as Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance (Cap. 360) and
Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) stipulate that regarding the
medical expenses for employees who are injured in accidents arising out of their
employment or suffering from occupational diseases, the ceiling of payments
which employers have to make is $280 per day, and very often this amount is not
enough to cover the expenses incurred for treating those employees (e.g. the
cost of the main medication which is used for treating mesothelioma and has to
be paid by the patients themselves is $10,000 per injection), whether the
Government has plans to raise the ceiling so that those employees will turn to
private healthcare institutions for treatment and rehabilitation services, thus
alleviating the burden on public healthcare services?
Reply:
President,
(a) The arrangement to assign its doctors to serve as members of the Employees'
Compensation Assessment Boards (the Boards) has been in place in public
hospitals before Hospital Authority (HA) was established. HA has all along
followed this arrangement since its establishment. However, as mentioned in our
reply on April 22, 2009, HA does not have the complete statistics on the
treatment for work-related injuries, nor the breakdown on the time and service
costs involved for its doctors serving as members of the Boards. In addition, HA
has no mechanism to charge the Labour Department any service fee for assigning
its doctors to participate in the work of the Boards.
(b) At present, HA provides a series of public healthcare services for eligible
persons, including treatment for work-related injuries, and charges patients the
prescribed fee. The services provided by HA to the eligible persons are heavily
subsidised by the Government and therefore the fee charged does not reflect the
costs of the service. Under the existing mechanism, HA has not imposed a
specific fee for treatment of work-related injuries and is not empowered to
charge any fee from a third party (including any insurance company which
provides coverage for payment of patient's medical expenses). We have no plan to
change the existing arrangement.
(c) The maximum amounts of reimbursement for medical expenses provided for
employees who have sustained occupational diseases or injuries at work under the
Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma
Compensation Ordinance are set by reference to the fees and charges for public
healthcare services. As a basic principle, the amounts cover the costs for the
employees in receiving specialist out-patient service or accident and emergency
service and hospitalisation at public hospitals or clinics. Under the existing
mechanism, the Administration reviews and revises the reimbursable ceilings for
medical expenses in accordance with changes in the standard fees and charges of
public hospitals and clinics. Employees who have sustained occupational diseases
and work injuries are eligible for reimbursement of medical expenses under the
ordinances, regardless of whether they receive treatments at medical
institutions in the public or private sector.
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:26
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