The Cost of Care: How Hong Kong's Healthcare System Fails its Elderly The revelation that a 75 year old retiree could have saved nearly HK$150,000 (US$19,300) on medical bills by opting for treatment in Shenzhen has sent shockwaves through the Hong Kong community.
Philip Kong's experience highlights the stark reality of rising healthcare costs and the inadequacies of the territory's public private hospital system.
The Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme was designed to provide a safety net for Hong Kong's elderly, but it has become woefully inadequate as medical inflation continues to outpace wage growth.