Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programme

The objective of the Community Care Fund (CCF) is to provide assistance to people facing economic difficulties, in particular those who fall outside the social safety net or those within the net but have special circumstances that are not covered. In addition, the CCF may consider implementing measures on a pilot basis to help the Government identify those that can be considered for incorporation into its regular assistance and service programmes.

The First Phase Programme (for specified self-financed cancer drugs)

CCF is a trust fund established in early 2011 and the programmes are administered by The Hospital Authority (HA).  The First Phase Programme, implemented on 1 August 2011, provides financial assistance to HA patients to purchase specified self-financed cancer drugs which have not yet been brought into the Samaritan Fund (SF) safety net but have been rapidly accumulating medical scientific evidence and with relatively higher efficacy.  The prevailing SF mechanism, including referral procedures, financial assessment criteria, and processing/approving of applications, has been adopted for the First Phase Programme.

The Programmes “Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders)” and “Subsidy for Eligible Patients of Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures”

To allow the CCF to exercise its function to fill the gaps in the existing system and create a pioneering effect, two new CCF medical assistance programmes are endorsed by the CCF in 2017/18 with effect from 1 August 2017 to provide subsidy for needy and eligible patients to purchase ultra-expensive drugs (including those for treating uncommon disorders) and specified implantable medical devices for interventional procedures. The two new programmes are named “Subsidy for Eligible Patients to Purchase Ultra-expensive Drugs (Including Those for Treating Uncommon Disorders)” and “Subsidy for Eligible Patients of Hospital Authority to Purchase Specified Implantable Medical Devices for Interventional Procedures”

Please click here to access to the HA website on CCF Medical Assistance Programme for more information.