Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien admitted that there were cases of hospitals "breaking the rules" on hospital fees, but those were cases of medical services.

On the morning of March 16, at the Government Electronic Information Portal, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien had an online dialogue with the people about medical service prices.

Responding to questions about the reason for the increase in hospital fees, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that increasing hospital fees is an urgent requirement that has been needed for a long time.



Minister of Health at the dialogue

The price of medical services was issued in 1995, at that time only a part of the service price was calculated, and some services whose prices were adjusted in 2006 were also only a part of the price. Meanwhile, the basic salary has increased 6.9 times so far, and the price of input materials for the medical sector has also increased according to the market.

Low service fees greatly affect the quality of medical examination and treatment. Low quality of medical services discourages people from participating in health insurance, and those who can afford it seek out paid services.

For medical facilities, it is very difficult for medical staff, including managers and doctors, to have money to buy equipment. A pair of gloves must be re-sterilized due to the limited health insurance coverage, which cannot motivate medical staff and at the same time affects their enthusiasm.

Responding to a reader's question about whether poor people who do not have money to buy insurance will receive support when going for medical treatment if hospital fees increase, Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that this is also something that the Government and the health sector have been concerned about before issuing the Circular.

However, the Government has supported the purchase of insurance for the poor at 95%, the near-poor at 70%, and co-payment at 50%. The poverty and near-poverty standards have been issued with specific regulations.

The third group of ethnic minorities living in disadvantaged areas is also given attention. Most recently, according to Decision 14/2012/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decision 139/2002/QD-TTg dated October 15, 2002 on medical examination and treatment for the poor, ethnic minorities in remote, isolated and disadvantaged areas, people with serious illnesses... are supported with expenses for food, travel, medical treatment... Therefore, they can be completely assured.

In the near future, the State will move towards universal health insurance, supporting 30% for middle-income households.

Regarding the question of Mr. Vu Nguyen Thanh Phuc (Phu Ninh district, Phu Tho province) about the fact that the hospital has been "breaking the rules" on fees for a long time, whether the addition of the new price frame adjustment will lead to the situation of "price overlapping" at hospitals, Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien admitted that the situation of hospitals "breaking the rules" on hospital fees actually exists, however, those are cases of medical examination services.

As for health insurance patients, according to the Minister of Health, this price has been agreed upon by the Ministry of Finance, Health, Social Insurance and is supervised by Social Insurance, so the examination fee is only 3,000 VND, the medicine is also on the list, the service is within the price range, so it is impossible to "break the rules"./.

VOV Online