Patients visit HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for disease treatment.(Photo: VNA) (VNS/VNA) – Twenty percent of HCM City’s
population with no health insurance have been hit with a 30 percent increase in
fees.
The fee increase took effect on October 1 at the
group of and health centres that were last on the list of
places to see higher fees, as approved by the municipal People’s Council.
The first fee increase came into force on
August 1 and was applied at 12 public hospitals with financial autonomy.
The fees for , for
instance, 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 said
the increase would help public hospitals ensure their regular expenditures.
On October 1, the city stopped funding
public hospitals except for ’s two facilities which provide
treatment for people in the final stage of AIDS, and for Ben San Hospital for
patients with leprosy.
Thach Thi Lien, aged 42, from the
Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh who works in the city as a housemaid, said that she visited Trung Vuong
Hospital in District 10 to treat sinusitis.
She does not have health insurance, so
she had to pay more than 1.9 million VND due to the increased fees.
She said that she was unaware of the
fee increase. “If I had known the fees increased, I would have bought
health insurance,” she added.
At District 9 Hospital, Dang Thanh Dao said that she was worried about her mother’s treatment because her mother did
not have health insurance.
The mother was at the hospital’s
emergency aid department, but was not expected to need treatment for a long
period.
At the city’s Oncology Hospital, nearly
52 percent of patients who visit the hospital for health examinations and
treatment have health insurance.
A report from the city-based Vietnam Social Security showed that 80 percent of HCM City’s population are covered by
health insurance.
A 23-year-old man with HIV from the
city’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 income
is 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 she
did not think health insurance was necessary. She seldom visits hospitals for
treatment.
“Whenever I feel sick, such as coughing
and sneezing, I go to drugstores to buy medicine,” she said.
Luu Thi Thanh Huyen, deputy head of the
city-based Vietnam Social Security, said that hospital fees were expected to
continue to increase, so even those with high incomes would incur higher costs.
Hospitals use the fee increases to pay
salaries for health care staff, training and scientific research as the state
budget does not allocate funds for these purposes.
People from other provinces and cities
who move to live in the city apply for temporary residence status so they can
buy health insurance, which can be used at hospitals.
The city aims to have more than 90 percent
of its population covered by health insurance by 2020.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
