Community Care Service Voucher Scheme: A Hong Kong Guide
The Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly is a Social Welfare Department subsidy that lets eligible older people in Hong Kong buy community care services they choose, at a monthly value between $4,526 and $10,824 for 2026-27, with a co-payment of 5% to 40% of the package.
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A service plan and the monthly co-payment are agreed with the chosen service provider. Generated illustration. No real person is depicted.
On this page
- What the Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly is
- How much the Community Care Service Voucher is worth and how co-payment works
- What services a Community Care Service Voucher can buy
- How to apply for a Community Care Service Voucher
- Choosing and changing a Recognised Service Provider
- How the CCSV compares with the Residential Care Service Voucher and the Elderly Health Care Voucher
- Common questions
The Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (CCSV) is a subsidy the Social Welfare Department (SWD) gives to eligible older people so they can buy community care services of their choosing, as set out on SWD's CCSV page.
The scheme began as a pilot and was made permanent on 1 September 2023. In 2026-27 the number of vouchers rises from 12 000 to 16 000, as the SWD Elderly Information Website states.
SWD applies two principles. Money-following-the-user lets a holder switch Recognised Service Providers and adjust service items and volumes. Affordable users pay means the less a person can afford, the more subsidy that person receives.
SWD states that eligible participants are elderly persons assessed and recommended for community care services or residential care services under its Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services and waiting for those services on the Central Waiting List without any residential care service or subsidised community care service being received.
Services that rule a person out include Home Support Services and Home Care Service for Persons with Severe Disabilities, which SWD names in its CCSV questions and answers. A family weighing residential care can compare homes in our guide to residential care homes in Hong Kong.
How much the Community Care Service Voucher is worth and how co-payment works
A holder may choose any monthly voucher value between the SWD floor and ceiling. For 2026-27 those values are $4,526 and $10,824.
A co-payment is the share of the service package value that the holder pays, with the government paying the rest. The six rates are 5%, 8%, 12%, 16%, 25% and 40%, based on the household income of the older person and the parents, children and spouse living with them over the previous three months. Assets are not assessed.
| Category | Rate | Income, one-person household | Income, two-person household | Co-payment at $4,526 | Co-payment at $10,824 |
|---|
| I, CSSA recipients | 5% | CSSA recipient | CSSA recipient | $226 | $541 |
| II | 8% | up to $7,875 | up to $10,950 | $362 | $866 |
| III | 12% | above $7,875 to $10,500 | above $10,950 to $16,425 | $543 | $1,299 |
| IV | 16% | above $10,500 to $15,750 | above $16,425 to $27,375 | $724 | $1,732 |
| V | 25% | above $15,750 to $18,375 | above $27,375 to $32,850 | $1,131 | $2,706 |
| VI | 40% | above $18,375, or no means test | above $32,850, or no means test | $1,810 | $4,330 |
The income ranges took effect on 1 April 2026. A person who prefers not to disclose household income may apply at the 40% rate; the 5% category is reserved for holders receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance.
A Recognised Service Provider may set its own floor value, not higher than the floor recognised by SWD, and the minimum co-payment follows that floor.
SWD prices a $5,000 package at 8% at a $400 co-payment. Where household size or finances change, the holder applies to the CCSV Office for reassessment with income proofs for the preceding three months.
The centre-based items are full-time day care of 12 sessions a week, each not less than four hours, a four-hour day care session, day care outside normal hours, transport between home and centre, and an escort between home and the vehicle.
The home-based items are rehabilitation exercise, nursing care and personal care. Exercise and nursing are delivered by a physiotherapist, occupational therapist or nurse, or by supporting staff, and personal care by supporting staff.
The home support items are home making, escort, meals delivery, elder sitting, on-site carer training, and an environmental risk assessment or home modification recommendation. Our guide to adult day care covers how centres are staffed, and home-based providers appear in our home care directory.
Other recognised items are residential respite, speech therapy, soft meals added to day care or meals delivery, and rental of assistive technology products. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment, acupuncture and aromatherapy offered by some providers are not recognised service items and are not subsidised.
SWD sends invitation letters to eligible older persons in batches, following application dates on the Central Waiting List, and invited persons may decide when to apply.
- Have the person assessed and recommended for community care services or residential care services under SWD's Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism, and placed on the Central Waiting List.
- Wait for the invitation letter, which SWD sends in batches by application date on the Central Waiting List.
- Complete the CCSV application form and collect the supporting documents.
- Submit the form to the CCSV Office, or apply online through the Voucher Information System for the Elderly.
- Provide income proofs if the application is randomly sampled for a household means test.
- Receive the notification of issuance; SWD generally completes vetting and approval within four weeks.
- Log in to the Voucher Information System with the Hong Kong Identity Card number to confirm eligibility and the voucher number, and use the district provider list.
Choosing and changing a Recognised Service Provider
Recognised Service Providers are non-governmental organisations receiving SWD subventions, non-profit-making organisations or social enterprises, private organisations, and licensed private hospitals with elderly care experience. SWD issues each provider a sticker for the service unit.
A holder may buy voucher services from up to two Recognised Service Providers in a calendar month, and may switch provider and package. A new provider takes effect in the following month at the earliest.
SWD advises comparing providers, because service modes, items and charges differ, and checking arrangements for public holidays, warnings and suspension of service before signing an agreement. Providers generally do not refund co-payment received.
A voucher becomes void after six consecutive months without any community care purchase, and no subsidy is paid while a provider reserves a place after a holder stops using services.
A holder may withdraw at any time, and the co-payment paid for that month is not refunded. Provider details are collected on the Agetide guides hub.
How the CCSV compares with the Residential Care Service Voucher and the Elderly Health Care Voucher
Hong Kong runs three voucher schemes for older people; the table compares them.
| Scheme | What it subsidises | Who is eligible | Value |
|---|
| Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) | Community care services at a centre, at home, or both at once | Assessed under SWD's mechanism and waiting on the Central Waiting List, with no subsidised care received | Between the $4,526 floor and $10,824 ceiling for 2026-27, with a 5% to 40% co-payment |
| Residential Care Service Voucher (RCSV) | Residential care services | Waitlisted for care and attention or nursing home places on the Central Waiting List | A subsidy that follows the user; 1 000 extra vouchers from 2026-27 bring the total to 7 000 |
| Elderly Health Care Voucher (EHCV) | Private primary care, including curative and preventive care | Elderly persons aged 65 or above | $2,000 a year for each eligible elderly person, with an accumulation limit of $8,000 |
The CCSV and the RCSV are both administered by SWD and both let the subsidy follow the user. The Elderly Health Care Voucher pays for private primary care, as the Health Care Voucher website records, and its rules are in our guide to the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme.
Common questions
Can a CCSV holder use more than one Recognised Service Provider?
Yes. SWD states that a holder may buy voucher services from up to two Recognised Service Providers in a calendar month. Where a holder already uses two providers in a month and switches, the new provider takes effect the following month at the earliest.
What happens to the Central Waiting List application when a CCSV is issued?
SWD states that on issuance of the voucher the long term care application on the Central Waiting List becomes an inactive case. It may be reactivated through the responsible worker, and the waiting position follows the original application date, so the position is not lost.
SWD states that a voucher becomes void if the holder does not use it to buy any community care service for six consecutive months. The holder or a family member may ask the CCSV Office or the responsible worker to re-apply, and vetting is generally completed within four weeks.
Topics
- community care services
- social welfare department
- long term care
- vouchers
- home care
- ageing in place
Related on Agetide
Related guides
Sources
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (CCSV), Details of the Scheme; Eligibility Criteria; How to Apply; Recognised Service Providers and their Services; Enquiry. https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/pubsvc/elderly/cat_commcare/psccsv. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. Household Monthly Income and Six Co-payment Categories for Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (with effect from 1.4.2026), Co-payment categories, household income ranges and co-payment amounts. https://www.swd.gov.hk/storage/asset/section/354/en/Co-payment%20table/CCSV_Co-payment%20Table_2026-27%20price%20level_ENG.pdf. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly: Community Care Service Items, Centre-based Services; Home-based Services; Others. https://www.swd.gov.hk/storage/asset/section/354/en/Service%20item/CCSV%20Service%20Items_Regularisation_Eng_202609.pdf. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) Scheme for the Elderly: Frequently Asked Questions, CCSV Application; Financial Assessment and Co-payment; Using the Electronic Voucher; Choosing a Recognised Service Provider; Other Related Matters. https://www.swd.gov.hk/storage/asset/section/354/en/FAQ/FAQ__ccsv_April%202026_Eng_W3C.pdf. Published: April 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. SWD Elderly Information Website: Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) - Introduction, Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) Scheme for the Elderly. https://www.elderlyinfo.swd.gov.hk/en/ccsv_introduction.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. SWD Elderly Information Website: Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) - Recognised Service Providers, Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) Scheme for the Elderly. https://www.elderlyinfo.swd.gov.hk/en/ccsv_rsps.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department, HKSAR Government. SWD Elderly Information Website: Residential Care Service Voucher, Residential Care Service Voucher (RCSV) Scheme for the Elderly. https://www.elderlyinfo.swd.gov.hk/en/rcsv_introduction.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Health Care Voucher, HKSAR Government. Health Care Voucher: Background, Background timeline entries for 2009 to 2026. https://www.hcv.gov.hk/en/hcvs/background.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
Written and edited by the desk collective The Longlight Desk. No individual is named as the author. Agetide editorial standards.
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