Elderly people will not need to present a marriage certificate when linking their Health Care Voucher accounts for the balance sharing feature, said Acting Secretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun.

The remark came after the Health Bureau submitted a document to the Legislative Council to roll out details on enhancing the Health Care Voucher scheme. Starting in July, elderly couples can link their voucher accounts and share the remaining balance after registering with their identity cards and declaring their marital status.

In a LegCo meeting on Friday, Kowloon Central lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit questioned if elderly couples would need to present a marriage certificate to declare their marital status, as he noted that not every elderly couple has one due to past traditions.

He also worried that two single elderly people could register their accounts to share their vouchers, leading to abuses of public resources.

Lee replied that elderly citizens could declare their marital status without providing any documents. Yet, she stressed elderly people will still be held accountable for their declarations.

Lawmaker Rebecca Chan Hoi-yan from the election committee constituency said the sharing use of vouchers is a benevolent policy but voiced concerns on arrangements for marital status declaration. She asked how authorities would prevent the vouchers from being abused if the elderly had their accounts registered by others.

Chan added many elderlies don’t know about their remaining balance in the voucher accounts.

Lee then said the elderly would have to display a copy of their partner’s identity card when using their partner’s voucher. Every time the voucher is used, authorities will send a text message to the user and their partner to alert them and state the remaining value in the voucher.

The Department of Health will also review the data to check for any irregularities, like an elderly citizen registering twice to thrice every year, Lee added.

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/204661/No-marriage-certificate-required-for-elderly-couples-to-share-Health-Care-Vouchers

Category: Hong Kong