Hospitals officially apply new prices for nearly 1,900 medical services

According to the Ministry of Health, from today (March 1), hospitals across the country officially adjusted the prices of 1,887 medical services by an average increase of 30%.

This price is initially applied to people with health insurance cards - currently accounting for 77% of the population.

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Prices of medical services increased by 30%

According to the Ministry of Health, on average, medical services increase by about 30% when direct costs and special allowances are added. If salaries are added, the average increase is about 50%.

Nine hospitals under the Ministry of Health are completely financially autonomous, including Bach Mai Hospital, Viet Duc Hospital, Cho Ray Hospital, Central Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, Endocrinology Hospital, Central Obstetrics Hospital, Central Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, and Central Eye Hospital. Doctors' salaries will be included in the calculation (the remaining medical facilities will apply from July 1).

For now, this adjustment in medical service prices only applies to people with health insurance cards when going for medical examination and treatment.

To prepare for the application of new hospital fees, hospitals have adjusted their information technology software for calculating hospital fees.

According to regulations, hospital fees applied from March 1st will only apply to patients with health insurance cards. Therefore, hospitals must have a new service price list, an old service price list for patients without health insurance, and a price list for examinations on demand and socialized services.

People who do not have health insurance cards should participate.

According to experts, the current price increase will not cause sudden disruptions and it is the middle and low-income earners who will benefit the most from the price increase, because they have health insurance.

With this new hospital fee, the impact on different groups is different. For example, about 23.7 million people are poor, children under 6 years old and social policy subjects with health insurance cards are not affected because this is the group that is granted free health insurance cards, when going to see a doctor or receive treatment, 100% is paid.

For the near-poor, this group has received at least 70% budget support, some localities even support 80-90% to participate in health insurance. When they go to see a doctor, the health insurance fund also pays 95% of the cost, they only have to co-pay 5% so the impact is not much.

The group that has to pay 20% is affected, however, the level of impact is not much. Previously, when the full price was not calculated, patients often had to pay more, but now that the full price is calculated, they will not have to pay more.

A representative of the Ministry of Health said that after hospitals apply the new hospital fees, if there are any problems or difficulties, the Ministry will work together to resolve them.

According to Mr. Nguyen Nam Lien - Director of the Department of Financial Planning (Ministry of Health), initially, those who do not have a health insurance card and have to pay hospital fees themselves will still follow the old price. However, in the near future, this price will also apply to those who do not have a health insurance card.

Therefore, the Ministry of Health hopes that people who do not have health insurance cards should participate in health insurance, especially buying for their families to reduce the premium.

The highest health insurance premium currently is 621,000 VND, the second person only has to pay 70% (about 435,000 VND), the third person only has to pay 60% (about 372,000 VND), from the 5th person onwards only has to pay 40% (about 248,000 VND)...

On the afternoon of February 29, at the conference on medical examination and treatment work in 2016 in the Northern region, leaders of many hospitals said that they had updated the hospital fee payment software to prepare for the adjustment of medical service prices from March 1./.

According to Vietnam+