Norman Ng: Life-Extending Drugs Are Costly
Norman Ng, Director of Patient Advocacy and Public Affairs at Healthcare Thinkers, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Life-Extending Drugs Are Costly; Even the Middle Class Struggle to Afford Them
Proposal for a “Co-Payment Scheme”
Ng Lok-man, convener of the Lung Cancer Patient Concern Group, stated that public hospitals plan to adjust fees for services such as CT scans and MRI examinations. This reflects efforts to reallocate resources, as previous free services led to waste. The new measures aim to redistribute resources more precisely to patients in need.
He added that the revised fees could subsidize expensive self-paid drugs for cancer patients. Currently, only those meeting poverty thresholds under the safety net receive assistance, which is unfair to middle-class patients who may be unable to afford effective drugs due to financial constraints. Ng urged the government to support access to innovative anti-cancer drugs for patients outside the safety net, especially middle-class individuals. He also suggested implementing a reasonable “co-payment scheme” to alleviate their medical burden, given that current self-paid drug costs are unaffordable for many.
Dr. Chan Wing-lok, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology at The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, noted that some self-paid drugs, such as targeted therapies and immunotherapies, impose heavy financial burdens. She recommended increased government funding for initiatives like the Community Care Fund or Samaritan Fund to cover more conditions. While improvements have been made, gaps remain for certain patients in need.
Cost-Saving Measures to Redirect Funds
By “increasing revenue and reducing expenditure” and “saving where necessary,” the Hospital Authority (HA) plans to redirect funds toward patient care. Starting this month-end, public hospitals and HA clinics will dispense a maximum of 24 weeks’ worth of medication per visit. Savings from this measure will be used to introduce new drugs to the formulary, enabling patients to access better treatments at subsidized prices.
Reported by Yu Feng, Ta Kung Pao.”
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