“Free government health check” is a common search, but the honest answer is mixed: some Department of Health services really are free of charge, while others — like Elderly Health Centre membership — carry a small, government-subsidised fee rather than being free. Here is exactly which is which, with the current figures.
It depends on the service. The Department of Health's Visiting Health Teams and the annual Student Health Service assessment for eligible students are genuinely free of charge. Other services, such as membership at an Elderly Health Centre, carry a small government-subsidised annual fee rather than being free — the exact figures are below.
Two services carry no fee at all. The Department of Health's 18 Visiting Health Teams provide free outreach health promotion and health assessment to elderly people and their carers, in the community and in residential care homes. Separately, the annual Student Health Service physical examination and health assessment for primary and secondary school students is free of charge for ‘eligible persons’ — broadly, holders of a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card, an HKSAR passport, or a Hong Kong birth certificate with established permanent resident status. A student who does not meet that eligibility instead pays the gazetted annual fee, currently HK$615.
Anyone aged 65 or above can enrol as a member of one of the Department of Health's 18 Elderly Health Centres. Since 13 December 2021, the annual fee for health screening and health promotion services (excluding mammography) is HK$110 for an eligible person — broadly, a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card holder — or HK$770 for a non-eligible person. A mammography costs a further HK$225 (eligible) or HK$510 (non-eligible), and each attendance for medical treatment costs HK$50 for an eligible person.
Yes — separately from general check-ups, the government runs named screening and subsidy programmes for specific conditions, each with its own eligibility rules and network of participating doctors, including the Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme and the Chronic Disease Co-Care Scheme.
See all government schemes and participating doctors →These links go directly to the Department of Health's own pages — not to ok.med.
Fee figures: Elderly Health Centre fees effective 13 December 2021 (elderly.gov.hk); Student Health Service non-eligible-person fee from the Department of Health's 2025/26 enrolment form (dh.gov.hk).