Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes
Community Care Fund
The objective of the Community Care Fund (CCF) is to provide assistance to people facing economic difficulties, in particular those who fall outside the social safety net or those within the net but have special circumstances that are not covered. In addition, the CCF may consider implementing measures on a pilot basis to help the Government identify those that can be considered for incorporation into its regular assistance and service programmes.
Since the establishment of the CCF in 2011, the work of the CCF was overseen and coordinated by the then Steering Committee on the CCF. An Executive Committee and four Subcommittees (Education, Home Affairs, Medical and Welfare) were set up under the Steering Committee to support the CCF's operation.
Following the reinstatement of the Commission on Poverty (CoP) by the Government in December 2012, the CCF has been integrated into the work of the CoP since 2013. The CCF Task Force, set up under the CoP, continues to implement the existing CCF assistance programmes and draw up new projects, and take forward measures on a pilot basis to help the Government identify those that can be considered for incorporation into the regular assistance and service programmes.
CCF Medical Assistance Programmes
In 2011/12, two CCF medical assistance programmes (i.e. the First Phase Programme and the Second Phase Programme
1) were endorsed by the CCF for implementation in phases. The Hospital Authority (HA) is the implementing agency of the CCF Medical Assistance Programmes under the supervision of the Health Bureau.
The First Phase Programme (for specified self-financed cancer drugs)
The First Phase Programme, implemented on 1 August 2011, provides financial assistance to HA patients to purchase specified self-financed (SFI) cancer drugs which have not yet been brought into the Samaritan Fund (SF) safety net but have been rapidly accumulating medical scientific evidence and with relatively higher efficacy. The prevailing SF mechanism, including referral procedures, financial assessment criteria, and processing/approving of applications, has been adopted for the First Phase Programme.
The Programmes “Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders)” and “Subsidy for Eligible Patients of Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures”
To allow the CCF to exercise its function to fill the gaps in the existing system and create a pioneering effect, two new CCF medical assistance programmes are endorsed by the CCF in 2017/18 with effect from 1 August 2017 to provide subsidy for needy and eligible patients to purchase ultra-expensive drugs (including those for treating uncommon disorders) and specified implantable medical devices for interventional procedures. The two new programmes are named “Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders)” and “Subsidy for Eligible Patients of Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures”
1 |
The Second Phase Programme, rolled out on 16 January 2012, aimed to provide subsidy to needy patients who marginally fall outside the SF safety net for the use of specified self-financed (SFI) drugs. It complemented the SF by providing additional subsidy to HA patients by reducing their maximum contribution ratio from 30% to 20% of their household annual disposable financial resources (ADFR) to use the specified SFI drugs supported by the SF. The Second Phase Programme had been approved by the Government for incorporation into the Government’s regular assistance programme, i.e. the SF, with effect from 1 September 2012. |