High-risk (高危) elderly and chronically ill (長期病患者) people will either have to buy a second insurance or the government will pitch in (note 2) through a reinsurance policy under the proposed Health Protection Scheme.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said it will be "fairer" to separate the high-risk pool of patients from the healthy pool of subscribers, amid worries that the healthy will be heavily subsidizing the sick. The final blueprint (藍圖) of the proposed government-regulated scheme based on last year's second-stage public consultation exercise will be announced at the Legislative Council's panel on health services meeting on Monday, a source said.
The government unveiled (公布) the reform in October during which it revealed its plans to draw HK$50 billion from reserves to subsidize the high-risk pool of elderly and patients with pre-existing (已處在的，note 3) conditions. Just 4percent of those aged over 65 have insurance cover at present.
But concerns have been raised that the scheme requires "normal healthy individuals" to share the risk and cost for the high-risk pool of patients to make it sustainable (可以持續的). Chow said it would be fairer (較為公平) if the healthy who plan to insure do not have to share part of their premiums (保費) to subsidize (補助) chronically ill patients.
Instead, those with long-term illnesses will most probably have to further insure themselves with a second policy (第二份保單) or a "reinsurance" (再保險) would be adopted by the government to handle over-budget (超資) circumstances in the high-risk pool.
Chow said this while visiting the Sheng Kung Hei Kindergarten in Central to help promote hygiene in preventing the spread of scarlet fever (猩紅熱), which had sickened (note 4) 737 people by noon yesterday.
From good to better English:
(note 1) keep away from=隔離。Keep=履行、保持、挽留。Victor told Jo: You may keep the magazine as your own=Victor告訴Jo: 你把那本雜誌留下來，不必還啦。Keep a promise=守約。Poon Poon has a wife and family to keep=Poon Poon要養家。
(note 2) pitch in=幫忙。Pitch=抛。a pitched battle=激戰。a high [low] pitch sound=高[低]音。The voices rose to a deafening pitch=聲音大得震耳欲聾。Victor made a pitch for the dean’s job=Victor 試圖報考院長那份工。
(note 3) pre-existing= 已存在。Pre-=prior to，例如: prehistoric=史前。Pre-=In advance，例如: prepay=預先繳款
(note 4) sicken(動詞)=令人生病。Sick=生病。Sicken也可以解做使人噁心或厭倦=disgusted。例句: I was sickened by Mo Mo’s shoe-shining behavior (Mo Mo討好上司的手段令我感到噁心)。
Victor’s View: A comprehensive health insurance scheme should benefit all, particularly those elderly and chronically-ill who shouldn’t be asked to buy an extra policy. The government and healthy citizens should chip in to help the needy.
(Victor Fung Keung, director of HK Baptist University’s M.A. in international journalism program, has published 3 books on English-enhancement and plans to write 7 more by the end of 2012. Write to him: deanfungenglish@gmail.com)
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