THE consultation paper was received with reservations by Hongkong's medical and nursing constituency legislators - and strong condemnation from social welfare groups.
Legislative Council medical representative Dr Leong Che-hung said he agreed that alternative funding sources had to be found.
''I'm glad that for the first time, the Government has come up willingly to say health care funding is not enough and we do need funding from other sources,'' he said.
However, he criticised the report for its lack of detail on who and how much people would pay under the proposed percentage subsidy approach.
He also had doubts about semi-private wards which, he said, would incur great administrative cost and offset any savings.
Dr Leong said he preferred the compulsory medical insurance scheme to the voluntary one because of the lack of incentive for people to buy medical insurance.