Wealth

Elderly couples (both aged 65 or above) who intend to share-use health care vouchers (Vouchers) do not need to register in advance. When either party of an elderly couple uses the Voucher to pay for healthcare services, they can both go to the healthcare service provider’s practice for pairing up their Voucher accounts. Upon completion of registration, there is no further need to register for pairing accounts again when Vouchers are used.

 

If either party of an elderly couple is unable to register in person due to exceptional circumstances, such as immobility or being bedridden, they should complete and sign the "Consent of Sharing Health Care Vouchers between Voucher Recipients in Spousal Relationship" (click here to download), which should be submitted by the elderly person attending a healthcare service provider’s practice by bringing along a copy of a valid Hong Kong identity card (HKIC) (or Certificate of Exemption (CoE), if applicable) of the spouse who cannot attend to complete the registration process.

 

During registration, elderly persons do not need to provide any documentary proof of spousal relationship, but they must declare their spousal relationship and give consent to share-use their Vouchers to ensure their eligibility in front of a healthcare service provider. If necessary, elderly persons will be directly requested by the Government to provide supporting documents for verification. Upon successfully pairing up their accounts, they will each receive an SMS notification. Whenever their Voucher balance has been used by his/her spouse in future, they will also receive SMS notifications.

 

Following the completion of account pairing, the elderly persons can use the Voucher balance in his/her spouse's account upon exhaustion of his/her own Voucher account balance. Every time spouse's Vouchers are used, the elderly person needs to provide a copy of the latest HKIC (or CoE, if applicable) of the spouse to the healthcare service provider for verification.

 

The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme will also launch the use of e-consent. When elderly persons use Vouchers, they only need to insert their HKIC into the smart identity card reader for consenting the use of the relevant Voucher amount. They do not need to sign on the paper consent form. All elderly persons using Vouchers can provide a local mobile phone number which can receive an SMS to the healthcare service provider. When Vouchers are used, the system will send a real-time SMS notification (including the Voucher amount used).