What does getting sick in Hong Kong cost a visitor?

The Hospital Authority splits patients into eligible persons, which broadly means holders of a valid Hong Kong identity card and resident children under eleven, and non-eligible persons, which is every visitor. Both sets of rates are published by the Authority and set out in the Gazette, so there is no guessing and no negotiating.

The current non-eligible rates took effect on 1 January 2026 under a fee reform, and they are higher than the ones you will find repeated around the internet. An accident and emergency attendance is 2,100 Hong Kong dollars, roughly 270 US dollars. A specialist outpatient attendance is 850, a family medicine clinic visit 500, and an injection or dressing 250. For everyday trouble, that is a manageable set of numbers.

Being admitted changes the scale rather than the arithmetic. A general hospital ward is 7,400 Hong Kong dollars a day, roughly 950 US dollars. A high dependency unit is 21,000 a day. Intensive care is 35,600 a day, roughly 4,550 US dollars, so a week in intensive care is a quarter of a million Hong Kong dollars before anything else is counted.

Non-eligible persons are also required to pay a deposit on admission, which is the practical thing to plan for. Call your insurer's assistance line early, because a guarantee of payment to the hospital is what turns a deposit demand into a phone call. If it looks serious, go to an accident and emergency department first and settle the account afterwards.

There is one carve-out worth knowing about. Under the Gazette, if a non-eligible person is suffering from, or suspected of suffering from, a disease specified under the prevailing International Health Regulations, no charge is made for the A and E attendance or for admission to a public ward. That is a public health measure rather than a traveler benefit, but it is real and it is stated by the Authority.

Hong Kong also has a large private hospital sector, which is faster and considerably more expensive, and where the published Authority rates do not apply at all. If your insurer directs you to a private facility, the numbers on this page are not the numbers you will see.

Hong Kong splits cleanly. The front door is affordable: a clinic visit or an A and E attendance is a sum most travelers can put on a card and reclaim later, and there is no reason to avoid care over the cost. The ward is not, and the intensive care rate is the number that should decide how much cover you carry.

Keep the receipt and the discharge summary, since the Authority's bill is itemised and a claim is straightforward with it. And note the rates are quoted in Hong Kong dollars, pegged closely to the US dollar, so the conversions above will not move much. For paying on the ground, see the Hong Kong cash and cards guide.

Common questions

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