Will private Hong Kong hospitals set high fee estimates to avoid explaining bill?

Lawmakers worry that hospitals will presume worst-case scenario under government proposals aimed at improving price transparency

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Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau has said private operators will not want to scare away patients by setting very high price expectations. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 5:55pm, 9 May 2025Updated: 6:05pm, 9 May 2025

Hong Kong’s private hospitals may provide higher fee estimates to avoid having to explain cost blowouts in patients’ final bills under an official proposal aimed at improving price transparency, lawmakers have warned.

But Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Friday dismissed the concerns and said private operators would not want to scare away patients by setting very high price expectations.

He also vowed to ensure penalties would act as effective deterrents under the legislative proposals targeting the private healthcare sector.

The Health Bureau earlier this week put a range of measures to the Legislative Council for discussion, including a requirement for private hospitals to give price estimates and a written explanation to patients or their family members if the final bill for procedures was significantly higher, such as 20 per cent or more than the expected amount.

But lawmakers raised doubts about how the government would ensure the rights of patients were protected.

“Private hospitals might include potential stays in the intensive care unit in the fee estimates for operations that are a bit more complicated,” legislator Rebecca Chan Hoi-yan said.