內地孕婦趁龍年搶閘在港生龍子龍女
Categories:Health Insurance, Hong Kong, Maternity, Medical Insurance |Published on May 20, 2013
去年香港政府為了確保香港婦產科醫療服務的質素，毅然下令停止接收內地孕婦在公立醫院預約分娩，可惜這種措施無阻內地孕婦來港分娩的決心，她們開始採用層出不窮的方法，例如「衝急症室」，「報細肚」和「假早產」，爭取「龍」年在香港醫院產子。截至去年11月初，私家醫院已接收了超過8000宗內地孕婦在2012年分娩的個案，數字預期會進一步上升，因此不少本港孕婦透過婦女與嬰兒保險保障自己與子女的健康。
內地孕婦在急症室分娩日增
去年多間醫院陸續揭發多宗內地孕婦為了縮短預產期而誤導主診醫生，從而爭取在香港醫院分娩，最終多間醫院規定內地孕婦必須出示私家醫生的超聲波檢查結果，確定有孕及胎兒周數後方可預約。
醫管局數據顯示，去年全年有1656宗內地孕婦透過公立醫院急症室分娩個案，較2010年的796宗個案上升108%。單是去年12月，已有203宗內地孕婦未經預約在急症室入院分娩的個案，較前年同期上升達1.3倍，近80%內地孕婦未正式預約床位，便經急症室入院分娩。
在韋爾斯醫院，2011年10月內地孕婦沖入急症室産子個案已達45宗，較同年1月及2月的7宗及3宗，升幅達5.4倍至14倍，重災區沙田威爾斯親王醫院去年更錄得個案近300宗，較前年僅120宗急增逾倍。
急症室運作受影響
內地孕婦往往先預約香港私立醫院，爭取入境産子的資格，再在臨盆前夕強行在公院急症室分娩。此舉雖然會招致高達4.8萬元的罰款，但由於已預約的私院會退還訂金，只徵收約1萬元行政費，約5.8萬元的總開支較私院標準房最低收費約6萬元為低，導致內地孕婦紛紛採用這種方法。
內地孕婦強行於急症室產子，為急症室帶來不必要的負擔，影響醫療服務質素，急症室的職能始終不同於産房，只設有基礎接生設備和人手，再加上欠缺産婦過往的醫療紀錄，萬一孕婦因緊急情况需要接受介入性輔助生育治療，她與她的嬰兒將面對不必要的危險。
母嬰院難預約
繼公立醫院急症室後，內地孕婦亦陸續湧入母嬰健康院，衛生署數字顯示，母嬰健康院新登記的嬰兒中，非本地父母所生嬰兒數目，由2007年10400名急增至2010年的14800名，增幅達42%，當中重災區粉嶺母嬰健康院在2010年中有近6成嬰兒皆由內地孕婦所生，大量內地孕婦已經導致母嬰健康院資源緊絀，有香港本地家長因為母嬰健康服務等候時間過長，被迫轉用私家母嬰健康院，部份家長更跨區到其他母嬰健康院尋求服務。
本地孕婦預早買保險
鑑於內地孕婦趁「龍」年來港產子現象有增無減，不少香港本地孕婦紛紛預先購買婦女及嬰兒保險，透過物有所值的高質素醫療服務保障她與她子女的健康。
在孕婦懷孕期間，孕婦需要接受大量檢查，例如定期檢查，超聲檢查，產前檢查，婦產科醫生的諮詢，還要購買孕婦服裝與保健食品，到正式分娩時，孕婦往往需要支付鉅額的入院和輔助生育費，假如孕婦接受剖腹生產，費用將進一步提高。婦女及嬰兒保險全面照顧孕婦的需要，減輕孕婦由於懷孕和分娩成本過高造成的心理壓力，確保孕婦身心健康。
嬰兒保險對於母嬰的健康亦意義重大。一般產檢只檢查胎兒結構發育是否正常，包括智能發育及先天性代謝異常在內的深入檢查，往往要在嬰兒出世後方能進行，為了替孕婦及其子女求一份保障及安心，婦女及嬰兒保險提供保障母體懷孕、生產過程，生育保險金和嬰兒先天性重大殘缺，降低新生兒出生異常帶給家庭的心理及經濟的衝擊，使子女健康快樂成長。
Maternity Costs in Hong Kong Rising Sharply
Categories:Health Insurance, Healthcare, Hong Kong, Maternity, Medical Insurance, News |Published on May 20, 2013
The costs of delivering a child at a Hong Kong Private Hospital have risen by up to 49 percent in 2011, according to a recent report by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, sharply outpacing actual medical inflation in the city, which is typically 15 percent per year.
In 2007 the Government of the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong legislated a mandatory fee of HK$ 39,000 on all non-resident mothers wishing to give birth at a Hong Kong Public Hospital. The legislation was intended to dissuade an increased number of pregnant Mainland China residents from using Hong Kong healthcare facilities to deliver their children, freeing up more space for local Hong Kong mothers and going some way toward alleviating an increasing burden which was being placed on the city’s public healthcare system.
The legislation did not enforce any mandatory costs for pregnant women giving birth at a Hong Kong Private Hospital.
Despite the mandatory booking fee imposed by the HKSAR government, the number of foreign nationals seeking to give birth in a Hong Kong public hospital has increased since 2007, to the extent that an approximate 50 percent of all births in the city are from non-resident or foreign national mothers.
With an estimated 92,000 non-resident mothers seeking delivery options at a Public Hospital in Hong Kong in 2011, these facilities have had an increased patient burden placed on them which they are struggling to deal with. This has forced many pregnant women who would have otherwise utilized a Public hospital to deliver their child to consider alternatives at one of Hong Kong’s Private maternity facilities.
However, as with Public Hospitals the demand for maternity services at Private facilities is also increasing. Unlike Hong Kong’s Public medical system, where healthcare costs are monitored by both the Hospital Authority and The Department of Health, the Private medical system in the city charges for healthcare services in line with demand for services and medical inflation.
Consequently higher demand has lead to higher prices, which have caught some patients by surprise.
The Private Maternity Hospital with the highest price increases is Precious Blood Hospital in Sham Shui Po, which charged 48.9 percent more for maternity services in 2011 than it did in 2010. One expectant mother who opted to use Precious Blood Hospital to deliver her child was quoted an initial price of HK$ 45,000. When the final bill for the maternity costs arrived, however, the hospital had levied a final fee of HK$ 70,000 for all services.
HK$ 5,000 of this fee was attributed to the fact that the mother had a Caesarian Section (or C-Section) one hour earlier than scheduled, at the request of the doctor. Shockingly, HK$ 15,000 of the bill was due to “administration fees” for the hospital. Other charges included HK$ 66 for medical gauze, HK$ 3,000 for baby care, HK$ 1,500 for an extra five hours of fetal monitoring, and HK$ 500 for “painless” childbirth after normal working hours.
Precious Blood is not alone in increasing the prices for Maternity Services. Other hospitals which increased the costs of delivery include The Baptist Hospital with a 31.1 percent increase, and St. Teresa Hospital which increased 30 percent. At the lower end of the spectrum, St Paul’s Hospital increased maternity costs by 6.5 percent. The increases were levied in regards to a 3 night maternity package with the exception of Precious Blood, where the figure was for a 2 night maternity package.
Hong Kong Sanatorium Hospital was the only private maternity hospital to not increase the charges associated with maternity this year.
The increase in fees for Maternity services in Hong Kong Private Hospitals has lead to calls for the private medical system to be more transparent in the way in which it charges patients. However, there is a clear trend that maternity costs are increasing and that patients wishing to give birth in a Hong Kong Hospital, whether private or public, should consider obtaining some form of Hong Kong Maternity Insurance Coverage to ensure that they are able to cover the ever increasing costs associated with having a child in the city.