Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly

Features of the Scheme

• "Money-following-the-user": Directly subsidise eligible elderly persons and provide them with greater flexibility to freely choose and switch among residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) under the Scheme according to their needs.
• "Users pay in accordance with affordability": Elderly persons with lower affordability will pay less while the Government pays the remaining amount of the voucher value. 
• Six-month trial period: Elderly persons can try to adapt to life in RCHEs.
• High flexibility: Elderly persons may make a top-up payment of up to 150% of the prevailing voucher value to purchase additional services from RCHEs under the Scheme as needed. 

Eligibility Criteria 

Eligible elderly persons who have been assessed and recommended for residential care services (RCS) under SWD's Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services and are waitlisting for care and attention places or nursing home places on the Central Waiting List (CWL) for subsidised Long Term Care (LTC) Services.  

How to Apply

SWD will send invitation letters to eligible elderly persons in batches according to their application dates on the CWL for subsidised LTC services, inviting them to join the Scheme.  

The eligible elderly persons, who are invited can submit the completed application form together with the supporting documents to RCSV Office.  They can also submit the online application via the Voucher Information System for the Elderly (VISE). 

In general, SWD will require around eight weeks to process applications if all the application and supporting documents provided are in order.  Further time may be required depending on the complexity of the application, and the number of applications handled at the same time.

Details of the Scheme

Voucher value and scope of service

With effect from 1.4.2025, the voucher value for care and attention places is $16,764 per month while the voucher value for nursing home places is $21,657 per month. RCHEs under the Scheme provide individual voucher holders with a "standard service package" covered by the voucher value as follows:

1. accommodation within shared rooms;
2. at least 3 meals a day plus snacks;
3. basic and special nursing care;
4. staff on duty 24 hours per day;
5. personal care service;
6. 2 rehabilitative services sessions per week, on an individual or group basis;
7. regular visits by a registered medical practitioner;
8. social or recreational activities on regular basis; 
9. laundry service;
10. basic medical care services on a regular basis (applicable to voucher holders of nursing home places only); and
11. social work services such as assessment, counselling, referrals and programme activities (applicable to voucher holders of nursing home places only).

Co-payment Arrangement

The Scheme's applicants are subject to an individual means test that takes into account their asset and income, in order to determine their co-payment level.
Please click here to download the Co-payment Table for the Scheme:

Promotion videos of the Scheme

Recognised Service Providers (RSP) (i.e. Residential Care Homes for the Elderly Participating in the Scheme)

Please click here to download the List of RSPs joining the Scheme:

Useful information and documents download

Enquiry

SWD Residential Care Service Voucher Office