Before comparing prices, ask each home one question: “Is this the fee for a private place, an allocated subsidised place, or a service-voucher place?” A single building can offer more than one. The cheapest figure on its listing may have no connection to the room available to your family.
Three bills that should not be mixed together
| Route | What you pay | What to establish first |
|---|---|---|
| Private place | The home’s quoted room-and-care fee, plus agreed extras. | A dated quote after the home reviews the person’s needs; availability of that exact bed. |
| Allocated subsidised place | Published resident fee: for example, HK$2,060 for a subvented continuum-of-care place, HK$2,054 for a subvented nursing place, or HK$1,763 for EBPS EA1. See SWD’s fees and EBPS fees. | Which scheme and care category appears on the allocation; what is charged separately. |
| Residential care voucher | Your assessed co-payment plus any agreed top-up. The voucher value is not your bill. | Written co-payment assessment and an itemised service package. |
Get a quote that describes the resident
Send the same short care summary to the homes on your shortlist: mobility and transfer assistance, help with meals and toileting, overnight needs, medicines, appointments and any care instructions from clinicians. Ask which items change the fee and who decides that the person has moved to a higher care band. “From HK$X” is not enough to build a budget.
A worked budget: monthly fee versus cash needed
Illustration, not a market quote: a HK$14,000 monthly fee, HK$1,200 of agreed monthly consumables, two HK$400 escorts a month and a HK$14,000 refundable deposit mean HK$30,000 cash is needed for the first month. Ongoing spending is HK$16,000 a month. Twelve months cost HK$192,000 before any fee increase; cash tied up including the deposit is HK$206,000. Keep a refundable deposit separate from care expenditure.
- Ask for the deposit refund deadline, deductions and notice period in the admission agreement.
- Ask how hospital admission, temporary absence and a mid-month move affect the bill.
- Price the next plausible care level too. A room that only fits today’s budget may require another move after needs change.