Medication subsidies

hello,


I am moving to HK from Australia in Jan next year.


My spouse requires regular medication.


I understand that the way to do this is:


1) Get 6 months of medication on the PBS and bring it with us.


2) Get the Australian doctor to write a private prescription every 6 months. We pay full market price for the medication (local person gets the medication for us and sends to us in HK with a Medicine Export Declaration form).


Alternative is to aquire medication and prescription locally using a HK identity card ? I think she will be eligible for this as she is a dependant ? There is some conflicting information about this - Can xpats with working Visas use the local public health system or is private insurance required. Is it the norm for you employer to provide this insurance ? And for dependants ?


Thanks in advance for your help !

As long as you have a HKID card you can access the public system. It is super cheap and straight forward to understand, although their hours can be restrictive. Also, I've never had to use access drugs over a long period of time, so I'm not sure how much they will give you per visit.


I doubt you would be able to get private insurance for your wife because they really don't cover pre-existing conditions. Unless your company provides insurance and then, I believe they cover pre-existing. Some companies provide insurance and some don't. You'd have to talk to the company about what they offer.


I would also check to make sure Hong Kong carries the specific drug your wife uses. I called Matilda hospital to find out information like that before.


You could probably also just go to a dispensary and get the drugs.


Good luck.