One in four Hongkongers is unaware of the expansion of a medical fee waiver mechanism, a survey has found, with lawmakers urging the government to ramp up efforts to promote the public healthcare subsidy regime reform set to be implemented in six months.

The survey, involving 724 respondents and conducted by the city’s largest workers’ union between April 22 and May 13, revealed that some participants lacked a clear understanding of the measures aimed at broadening the safety net in public hospitals.

Lawmaker Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Federation of Trade Unions, said people were more familiar with the measures related to the fee increase, including in emergency rooms and general outpatient clinics.

“When residents have limited understanding of the reform, how can the government effectively implement the measures?” he said.

“The government should ramp up its efforts to promote the reform, especially in areas concerning how it will increase support for patients.”

Around 29 per cent of the respondents did not know about the relaxation of income and asset limits of the mechanism, while around a quarter had no idea about the HK$10,000 (US$1,274) cap on annual spending for public healthcare services.