Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme in Hong Kong
The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme is Hong Kong's Department of Health subsidy for private primary healthcare, open to residents aged 65 or above. The Department of Health states the annual voucher amount is $2,000 and the accumulation limit is $8,000, credited on 1 January each year and carried forward when unused.
The Longlight Desk
Published
Vouchers are spent at enrolled private providers, which check the balance before treatment. Generated illustration. No real person is depicted.
On this page
- What the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme is and who administers it
- Who is eligible for the elderly health care vouchers
- How much voucher amount is credited each year
- What the voucher pays for and what it does not cover
- How to use the voucher at an enrolled provider
- How the voucher sits beside other Hong Kong care subsidies
- Common questions
What the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme is and who administers it
The Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme is the Hong Kong Government subsidy that supports eligible elderly persons in using private primary healthcare services. It sits alongside, rather than replacing, the public healthcare services available to elderly persons.
The Health Care Voucher Division is the Department of Health unit that plans, implements and administers the scheme. The Department of Health records that the Division was set up in 2008 and that the scheme was launched in 2009 to subsidise eligible elderly persons in receiving private primary healthcare services that best suit their health needs.
Who is eligible for the elderly health care vouchers
The scheme's eligibility page states two conditions. A person must be aged 65 or above, and must hold a valid Hong Kong Identity Card or a Certificate of Exemption issued by the Immigration Department. It states one exclusion: a person who obtained a Hong Kong Identity Card by virtue of a previous permission to land or remain in Hong Kong, where that permission has expired or ceased to be valid, is not eligible.
The scheme states that the annual amount is automatically deposited in the voucher account on 1 January, starting from the year in which the person becomes eligible, and on 1 January of every later year.
How much voucher amount is credited each year
The Department of Health states that the annual voucher amount for each eligible elderly person is $2,000, and that the accumulation limit of vouchers is $8,000. Its table lists this as applying from 2020 onwards. The eligibility and annual amount page carries the full year-by-year table since 2009.
An unused balance does not lapse when a year ends. The unspent amount can be carried forward and accumulated, with no restriction on the number of years, the scheme states, but the balance as at 1 January each year cannot exceed the accumulation limit for that year.
Since 26 June 2019 the amount that can be spent on optometry services is capped at $2,000 every two years. The amount used to settle a fee cannot exceed that fee. The scheme also states that vouchers cannot be redeemed for cash and that an amount not yet issued cannot be advanced.
What the voucher pays for and what it does not cover
The scheme lists the services that vouchers can pay for, including preventive, curative and rehabilitative care.
- Registered medical practitioners, Chinese medicine practitioners, dentists, chiropractors, registered and enrolled nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers, medical laboratory technologists and optometrists in Part I of the register enrolled in the scheme.
- Audiologists, dietitians, clinical psychologists and speech therapists registered with a body accredited under the Accredited Registers Scheme for Healthcare Professions and enrolled in the scheme.
- Services of District Health Centres and District Health Centre Expresses.
- Designated outpatient services at the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital and at pilot medical institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Allied health professional services and laboratory test services are subject to the current referral arrangement, the scheme states. Agetide covers the district side in its elderly health centres guide.
An enrolled healthcare provider is a practitioner of one of the professions the scheme admits who has joined it; the scheme logo is displayed at the clinic or service point.
The scheme's restrictions on using health care vouchers set out what they cannot pay for.
- Employing staff, or solely purchasing products such as medication, spectacles, dried seafood, personal care products, food products or medical equipment.
- Public healthcare services subsidised by the Government, including services the Hospital Authority purchases from the private sector, such as the General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme.
- Inpatient services, pre-paid healthcare services and day surgery procedures such as cataract surgery or endoscopy services.
- The fees of service providers who have not enrolled in the scheme.
Equipment is on that list, so a walker or a hospital bed is bought outside the scheme. Agetide lists medical equipment suppliers in Hong Kong.
How to use the voucher at an enrolled provider
Vouchers are used at the counter after the consultation, and the account is created on the first visit rather than in advance. The page on creating the account and using vouchers sets out this sequence.
- Find an enrolled healthcare service provider on the scheme's list of enrolled providers, where the scheme logo is displayed.
- Check the voucher balance if an account already exists, through the balance enquiry page, the balance enquiry hotline 2838 0511 or the eHealth App.
- Ask about the service and charging items beforehand: using vouchers should not affect the fees charged, the scheme states.
- Receive the healthcare service in person, because vouchers can only be used by the eligible elderly person after services are received in person.
- Present a valid Hong Kong Identity Card or Certificate of Exemption, and agree to the amount used by giving consent electronically; paper consent applies only in the stated special circumstances.
- Provide an SMS-enabled mobile phone number, which may be a family member's or carer's, and keep the Notice on Use of Health Care Voucher given by the provider.
The scheme enquiry hotline is 2838 2311. The scheme also states that the Department of Health and healthcare service providers will never, in connection with vouchers or reward, ask an elderly person for bank account information or to click a web link.
How the voucher sits beside other Hong Kong care subsidies
Several subsidised schemes for older persons sit alongside each other, run by different departments for different costs.
| Scheme | What it subsidises | Stated amounts |
|---|
| Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme | Private primary healthcare services | $2,000 a year and an $8,000 accumulation limit, for 2020 and onwards |
| Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Reward Scheme | Voucher spending on designated primary healthcare services | $500 once spending in a year reaches $1,000; runs to 31 December 2028 |
| Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly | Community care services, centre-based or home-based | Monthly voucher values of $4,526 to $10,824 for 2026-27; co-payment of 5% to 40% |
The Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly is the Social Welfare Department scheme that funds community care services under a money-following-the-user and affordable-users-pay model. Its eligibility is narrower: the person must have been assessed and recommended for community care or residential care services under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism, and be waitlisting on the Central Waiting List. Agetide has a community care service voucher scheme guide.
The reward scheme sits inside the health care voucher scheme, not beside it. It was launched in 2023 and extended in February 2026 for two years, to 31 December 2028, and an elderly person can be allotted the reward once each year at most. The reward lapses if unused and cannot be shared between spouses. That page also lists the Chronic Disease Co-Care Scheme among the designated primary healthcare services that count towards the reward.
The Primary Healthcare Blueprint defines primary healthcare as the first point of contact for individuals and families in a continuous healthcare process, providing accessible, comprehensive, continuing, co-ordinated and person-centred care. Agetide collects the surrounding schemes in its guides to Hong Kong elder care.
Common questions
Who can use the elderly health care vouchers in Hong Kong?
The scheme states that elderly persons aged 65 or above holding a valid Hong Kong Identity Card or a Certificate of Exemption issued by the Immigration Department are eligible. A person who obtained a Hong Kong Identity Card through a previous permission to land or remain, where that permission has expired, is excluded.
What happens to an unused voucher balance at the end of a year?
It carries forward. The scheme states that the unspent voucher amount can be accumulated, with no restriction on the number of years, so a balance does not lapse at the end of a year. The stated ceiling is the balance as at 1 January each year, which cannot exceed the accumulation limit for that year.
Can vouchers be used to buy medication, spectacles or medical equipment?
No. The scheme states that vouchers cannot be used for employing staff or solely purchasing products such as medication, spectacles, dried seafood, personal care products, food products or medical equipment. Vouchers can be used for preventive and curative services, and the amount used to settle a fee cannot exceed that fee.
Topics
- elderly health care voucher
- healthcare subsidies
- primary care
- hong kong health
- carer finances
Related on Agetide
Related guides
Sources
- Health Care Voucher Division, Department of Health. Eligible Elderly Persons and Annual Voucher Amount, Eligible Elderly Persons and Annual Voucher Amount. https://www.hcv.gov.hk/en/hcvs/service_area.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Health Care Voucher Division, Department of Health. Restrictions in Using Health Care Vouchers, Restrictions in Using Health Care Vouchers. https://www.hcv.gov.hk/en/hcvs/about_restrictions.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Health Care Voucher Division, Department of Health. Create Account and Use Vouchers, Create Account and Use Vouchers. https://www.hcv.gov.hk/en/use_of_vouchers/issue.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Health Care Voucher Division, Department of Health. Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Reward Scheme, Reward Mechanism. https://www.hcv.gov.hk/en/use_of_vouchers/pilot_reward_scheme.html. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Department of Health. Health Care Voucher Division. https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/main/main_hcvu/main_hcvu.html. Published: 2022. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Social Welfare Department. Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly (CCSV), Introduction and Eligibility Criteria. https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/pubsvc/elderly/cat_commcare/psccsv. Published: 2026. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
- Health Bureau. Primary Healthcare Blueprint: What is Primary Healthcare. https://www.primaryhealthcare.gov.hk/bp/en. Published: 2023. Accessed: 2026-10-14.
Written and edited by the desk collective The Longlight Desk. No individual is named as the author. Agetide editorial standards.
All aged care explainer guides
Agetide is a B2B marketplace and information site for elder care across Asia Pacific, covering SI (Superintelligence) · AI (artificial intelligence) care systems and related services.