- MDWs who are a holder of Hong Kong Identity Cards AND a valid FDH visa pay the same fee as “locals” (i.e. Hong Kong Permanent Residents) to receive medical service provided by public hospitals and clinics under the Hospital Authority(HA) as well as other public health facilities under Department of Health (DH) such as Maternal and child health centre (MCHC).
- They are eligible for the rates of charges applicable to “Eligible Persons”.
Have you ever undergone any confusion whether you can see a doctor at public hospitals or clinics in Hong Kong? Do you know how much you will be charged? It is totally understandable if you are facing some confusion. Hopefully, the below information could help you a bit!
MDWs with valid FDH visa & HKID are “Eligible Persons”.
MDWs who are a holder of Hong Kong Identity Cards AND a valid FDH visa pay the same fee as “locals” (i.e. Hong Kong Permanent Residents) to receive medical service provided by public hospitals and clinics under the Hospital Authority(HA) as well as other public health facilities under Department of Health (DH) such as Maternal and child health centre (MCHC). They are eligible for the rates of charges applicable to “Eligible Persons”.
However, if your contract is finished or terminated and your FDH visa expires, even if you extend your visa as a visitor to stay in Hong Kong and still hold the physical HKID card issued to you before, it is no longer valid. You still have access to public medical care, but the costs would be significantly higher since you fall into the category of “Non-eligible Person” who are NOT entitled to the subsidized rates at the public health care system.
Also, if you have NOT received your physical HKID card yet, you can only fall into the category of “Non-eligible Person”. When you just arrived in HK and you have a valid FDH visa, you need to apply for a HKID card and it takes some time to collect the physical card. There are two scenarios at this stage. The first scenario is when you have not attended the appointment to make a HKID card yet, you will be categorized as “Non-eligible Person”. The second scenario is you have attended the appointment to make HKID card and received the “Acknowledgment of application for a Hong Kong identity card (ROP140)”, which is also commonly called as “行街紙 hang gai zi (walk-street paper)”. Because you have not received your physical HKID card yet, your expenses at the public health care system will still be counted as a “Non-eligible Person” even if you have the “Acknowledgement”. However, if there are emergencies when you are in these 2 scenarios, you can go to the Accident & Emergency Department (AED) and apply for an extension of payment. Then you can wait until you have the physical HKID card and go back to the hospital’s finance and accounting department to ask for a change of eligibility status. If the change is approved, the bill will be re-issue under the rate for eligible person. But this change can only be applied to emergencies at AED.
Public Charges – Eligible Persons (Examples for reference only)
| Service | Fee/HK Dollar |
| Accident & Emergency | $180 per attendance 1 |
| General outpatient | $50 per attendance 1 |
| Inpatient (acute general beds) | $75 admission fee, $120 per day |
| Ante-natal or post-natal care | No Charge 2 |
| Delivery | Depends on days and service needed – $180/attendance (A&E) – $120/day+ $75 admin fee (in patient) – Other services needed. |
1 The outpatient charges for medical attention and treatment which include the costs of prescriptions
2 You will need a medical certificate confirming your pregnancy and stating the expected delivery date to register for the free ante-natal or post-natal care.
Notes: For the most updated rates for public hospitals/clinics, you can check on the Hospital Authority website by searching “Hospital Authority : Fees and Charges” on your browser. For the rates of service under the Department of Health, you can visit the website of the relevant public health facility.
Medical Fee Waiver
People (Eligible Persons & Non-eligible persons) who have financial difficulties in paying medical expenses at the public sector may apply for medical fee waiver. However, this is not guaranteed and would be subject to approval. Please refer to the webpage on Mechanism of Waiving of Medical Charges for details (Search “Mechanism of Waiving of Medical Charges – Hong Kong”).
For more details, please visit: https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor_index.asp?Content_ID=10045&Lang=ENG
Source: Hospital Authority & Department of Health
PathFinders is a charity that helps migrant domestic workers who have become pregnant, given birth to children in Hong Kong, or have overstayed their visa.
All our services are FREE of charge.
Learn more about PathFinders:
https://www.pathfinders.org.hk/en
For General Inquiries:
Email us at info@pathfinders.org.hk, or send us a message on our Facebook page (PathFindersHK / PathFinders for Migrant Workers).
Client hotline for pregnant migrant workers, or migrant domestic workers with children: +852 5190 4886. (Sun-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-2pm)
Address: Unit 2D, Worldwide Centre, 123 Tung Chau Street Tai KoK Tsui, Kowloon