HONG KONG, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health York Chow called for new thinking on medical financing on a radio show Saturday.

    New thinking is needed to resolve the medical resources problem as the situation will worsen if Hong Kong's healthcare system does not change amid the aging population, Chow said.

    Chow noted that although the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has been increasing healthcare resources it still cannot meet the community's needs or improve the public- private medical sector imbalance.

    With the healthcare reform consultation the HKSAR government hopes the public can learn the relation between services and financing, and the pros and cons of various proposals, he said.

    Chow said as the community has reservations about proposals of pure savings or pure insurance, the HKSAR government has forwarded a new option combining the two for public consideration. Foreign experience shows that the return rate can be raised if the insured population is enlarged.

    The HKSAR government will study the best mode of regulation if such an option is preferred, including forming an organization with government, service sector and patient representatives as adopted by Switzerland.

    Chow said the HKSAR government is open to all views. He reiterated that the safety net will remain to serve the underprivileged and those with chronic illness, and no one will be deprived of medical services due to financial problems.