The government will boost the Samaritan Fund charity by about $100 million for the first time in years to help cover the costs of middle-class patients at public hospitals who need life-saving but expensive drugs.
The Hospital Authority made the funding proposal and is understood to have told a workshop for patients' groups on Wednesday.
'I can only say we are considering injecting funds to the Samaritan Fund,' said a spokeswoman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau yesterday.
'The Samaritan Fund comes mainly from donations. The government does not regularly inject funds into [it].'
She did not give an amount or a date for the bureau to submit the proposal to the Legislative Council's health services panel and the Finance Committee.
Social workers at each hospital assess a patient's eligibility for the fund, which is means-tested.
The Hospital Authority said the fund ensured no needy patients were denied 'adequate medical treatment' because of finances.