Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes 2026: what the three programmes subsidise, eligibility and how to apply

What medical assistance programmes does the Community Care Fund have?

There are three programmes implemented by the Hospital Authority: the First Phase Programme (specified self-financed cancer drugs), ‘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’ (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

The main purpose of the Community Care Fund is to assist people facing financial difficulties, in particular those who fall outside the social safety net, or those within the safety net whose special needs are not covered (Social Welfare Department, August 2023).

The main eligibility for the three medical assistance programmes is being a Hospital Authority patient who meets specified clinical criteria and passes a means test by a medical social worker (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

Which cancer drugs does the first-phase programme subsidise?

Specific self-financed cancer drugs not yet included in the Samaritan Fund safety net: the first-phase programme has been implemented since 1 August 2011, subsidising patients' use of specified self-financed cancer drugs not yet brought into the Samaritan Fund safety net but rapidly accumulating medical scientific evidence and with relatively higher efficacy, and operates under the Samaritan Fund's mechanism (Social Welfare Department, August 2023).

From the end of January 2026 the first-phase programme covers 17 specific self-financed cancer drugs; another 68 self-financed drugs / indications originally covered by the programme have been brought into the Samaritan Fund's scope of subsidy or reclassified as special drugs in the Drug Formulary (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

From the first quarter of 2026 the first-phase programme introduced durvalumab, elranatamab and toripalimab, for lung cancer, multiple myeloma and nasopharyngeal cancer respectively; as at 28 February 2026, the first-phase programme had benefited 28,814 patient-times (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

For other support available to cancer patients, see Financial support for cancer patients in Hong Kong.

What extra requirement does the ultra-expensive drugs programme have?

Beneficiaries must also be Hong Kong SAR permanent residents: the ultra-expensive drugs programme has been implemented since August 2017 and has covered 11 drugs since the end of May 2025 (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

Under the ultra-expensive drugs programme the patient's contribution is capped at HK$1 million or 20% of the household's annual disposable financial resources, whichever is lower (Government paper to the Legislative Council, January 2021).

How is the means test calculated?

On the household's annual disposable financial resources: patients applying to the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes must undergo a means test, and the contribution for drug subsidies is set on a sliding scale according to the household's annual disposable financial resources, capped at 20% of the annual disposable financial resources (Government paper to the Legislative Council, January 2021; the mechanism before the 2026 fees reform).

From early 2019, in calculating annual disposable financial resources for drug subsidy applications, 50% of the household's net assets is deducted, and the ‘household’ counts only core family members with a financial connection to the patient (Government paper to the Legislative Council, January 2021).

How does the Community Care Fund relate to the Samaritan Fund?

Drugs move between the two: from January 2025 to March 2026 the Hospital Authority brought 10 cancer drugs into the safety-net scope of subsidy of the Samaritan Fund, and seven into that of the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes (Government reply to the Legislative Council, June 2026).

The Community Care Fund programme ‘subsidising Hospital Authority patients in financial difficulty who cannot benefit from the Samaritan Fund to use drugs covered by the Samaritan Fund’ was incorporated into the Samaritan Fund's regular mechanism on 1 September 2012 (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2026).

The Hospital Authority said it would explore using the proceeds of the fees reform to move more drugs with accumulated medical evidence and cost-effectiveness from the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes into the relaxed Samaritan Fund's scope of subsidy (Government paper to the Legislative Council, May 2026).

How do I apply for Community Care Fund medical assistance?

Apply through the hospital's medical social worker: the medical social worker processes Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programme applications after receiving the doctor's referral and the information or documents the patient submits, and patients start to receive the subsidy only after the application is approved (Government reply to the Legislative Council, January 2019).

The medical fee assistance and related funds include the medical fee waiver mechanism, the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes (Social Welfare Department, July 2026); for medical fee waivers, see Applying for a medical fee waiver.

Whether each programme is currently accepting applications, the drugs or devices covered and the clinical criteria can be checked with the treating doctor or the hospital's medical social worker.

Frequently asked questions