Hong Kong consumer watchdog calls for vigilance over private care home fees, says additional costs may balloon to 57% of basic monthly charges
- Consumer Council says items ranging from diapers to air conditioning may account for up to 57 per cent of basic monthly fees
- Watchdog also urges raising labour quotas for foreign carers as it finds some facilities have a low staff ratio of one worker to 30 elderly residents
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has called on residents to be vigilant over costs associated with private care homes after it found that additional charges by some facilities for items ranging from diapers to air conditioning may account for up to 57 per cent of the basic monthly fees.
The watchdog highlighted that the industry generally lacked information transparency as a mere 40 out of 297 private and non-subsidised care homes replied to its questionnaires. It also obtained partial information from six randomly selected private homes by posing as customers.
“The care homes charged a series of monthly fees according to the level of care required, type of room, district of location, and the environment and facilities of the homes, of which the basic monthly fees could range from HK$6,000 [US$765] to HK$82,000, a difference of over 12 times,” said Victor Lam Hoi-cheung, the chairman of the council’s publicity and community relations committee.
There was also a series of additional charges, again with huge price discrepancies, that entailed, he added. For instance, 30 of surveyed facilities charged an administration or bedding fee for the first move-in, ranging from HK$500 to HK$4,000, a sevenfold difference.
For air conditioning, 39 homes charged HK$100 to HK$650 monthly from May to October, while one charged HK$200 a month for heating from December to February.