The government has said it is starting work on a voluntary medical insurance scheme after receiving 60% support from a recent public consultation.

The Health Protection Scheme (HPS) could come into force by 2015 and the government suggests young people may be offered 30% discounts on insurance premiums so to encourage them to join. The government also suggested setting up an insurance fund for chronic patients and estimated HK$50bn could be spent on both discounted premiums and the insurance fund.

York Chow, secretary for food and health, said: "We will adopt a three-pronged action plan in the coming two years to take forward healthcare reform and roll out the HPS step-by-step."

In addition, the government will set up a working group on HPS for its first step in order to formulate detailed proposals on the supervisory and institutional frameworks for the scheme. It is expected to regulate private health insurance and private healthcare services under HPS to strengthen protection for the public through enhanced market transparency and greater competition.

"We plan to complete the aforementioned preparatory works by the first half of 2013."

A total of 564 submissions, both individuals and organisations, were received during the three-month consultation, which ended on 7 January this year.