Patients visit HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for disease treatment.(Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Twenty percent of HCM City’spopulation with no health insurance have been hit with a 30 percent increase infees.
The fee increase took effect on October 1 at thegroup of public hospitals and health centres that were last on the list ofplaces to see higher fees, as approved by the municipal People’s Council.
The first fee increase came into force onAugust 1 and was applied at 12 public hospitals with financial autonomy.
The fees for health examinations, forinstance, rose to 29,000-39,000 VND (1.3-1.7 USD) from 7,000-20,000 VND.Fees for beds increased from 57,000 VND to 157,000 VND per bed for one day.
The city’s Department of Health saidthe increase would help public hospitals ensure their regular expenditures.
On October 1, the city stopped fundingpublic hospitals except for Nhan Ai Hospital’s two facilities which providetreatment for people in the final stage of AIDS, and for Ben San Hospital forpatients with leprosy.
Thach Thi Lien, aged 42, from theMekong Delta province of Tra Vinh who works in the city as a housemaid, said that she visited Trung VuongHospital in District 10 to treat sinusitis.
She does not have health insurance, soshe had to pay more than 1.9 million VND due to the increased fees.
She said that she was unaware of thefee increase. “If I had known the fees increased, I would have boughthealth insurance,” she added.
At District 9 Hospital, Dang Thanh Dao said that she was worried about her mother’s treatment because her mother didnot have health insurance.
The mother was at the hospital’semergency aid department, but was not expected to need treatment for a longperiod.
At the city’s Oncology Hospital, nearly52 percent of patients who visit the hospital for health examinations andtreatment have health insurance.
A report from the city-based Vietnam Social Security showed that 80 percent of HCM City’s population are covered byhealth insurance.
A 23-year-old man with HIV from thecity’s Cu Chi district said that he could not afford to buy health insurance.
“My family includes my mother and me.My mother trades in waste plastic, metal and paper for recycling, so her incomeis for daily needs only. I don’t have a job because I’m unhealthy due to HIV,”the man said.
Nguyen Thi Tu Anh of Hau Giang province, a vendor on Thoai Ngoc Hau street in Tan Phu district, said that shedid not think health insurance was necessary. She seldom visits hospitals fortreatment.
“Whenever I feel sick, such as coughingand sneezing, I go to drugstores to buy medicine,” she said.
Luu Thi Thanh Huyen, deputy head of thecity-based Vietnam Social Security, said that hospital fees were expected tocontinue to increase, so even those with high incomes would incur higher costs.
Hospitals use the fee increases to paysalaries for health care staff, training and scientific research as the statebudget does not allocate funds for these purposes.
People from other provinces and citieswho move to live in the city apply for temporary residence status so they canbuy health insurance, which can be used at hospitals.
The city aims to have more than 90 percentof its population covered by health insurance by 2020.-VNA
VNA
