{"id":845865,"date":"2026-08-04T14:56:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/845865\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:56:30","slug":"how-can-retirees-beat-rising-healthcare-costs-in-hong-kong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/845865\/","title":{"rendered":"How can retirees beat rising healthcare costs in Hong Kong?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In the fourth of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Victor Ting looks at how rising healthcare costs and growing cross-border treatment options are reshaping patients\u2019 choices, as experts warn the city must reform to keep care affordable.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Retiree Philip Kong says he realised Hong Kong\u2019s healthcare system needed a wake-up call when he discovered that receiving treatment for his prostate condition in neighbouring Shenzhen could potentially cut his medical bill by nearly 90 per cent.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The 75-year-old was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and set to pay HK$210,000 (US$26,780) for a scheduled surgery at Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital \u2013 until a family friend, who is a urologist, suggested another option.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The alternative? The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital \u2013 a 2,000-bed clinical, teaching and research facility in Futian that opened in 2012 \u2013 offered a full examination, including blood and urine tests, for about HK$300 and an extra HK$20,000 for the standard inpatient procedure.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In the end, Kong opted not to go for the larger discount and paid for the \u201cdeluxe\u201d HK$60,000 package. It included a private room with a sea view and meant the operation was performed by three \u201cprofessor-grade\u201d specialists.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cIt is a fraction of the cost, and treats you like a king,\u201d Kong said after making an initial trip to the hospital to explore his options.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Philip Kong was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and was set to pay HK$210,000 for surgery at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital. Photo: Jonathan Wong\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b13e4d45-6e98-4db4-b667-698157b7cdad_047efa20.jpg\" title=\"Philip Kong was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and was set to pay HK$210,000 for surgery at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital. Photo: Jonathan Wong\"\/>Philip Kong was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and was set to pay HK$210,000 for surgery at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital. Photo: Jonathan Wong<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the fourth of a five-part Health Matters wellness series on ageing in Hong Kong, Victor Ting looks&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[294486,49,48,294483,294485,294489,12038,22850,84,392,15674,168710,144958,44,294484,30399,22429,294488,294487,18390,99989],"class_list":["post-845865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ai-powered-telemedicine","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cancer-patient-alliance","tag-elderly-health-care-voucher","tag-futian","tag-greater-bay-area","tag-guangzhou","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-hong-kong","tag-hospital-authority","tag-lo-chung-mau","tag-news","tag-philip-kong","tag-scmp","tag-south-china-morning-post","tag-university-of-hong-kong-shenzhen-hospital","tag-voluntary-health-insurance-scheme","tag-wechat","tag-zhuhai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}