Nghe An: Reviewing price regulations for 1,916 medical examination and treatment services
(Baonghean.vn) - Examining the draft resolution regulating the prices of 1,916 medical examination and treatment services is one of the topics discussed at the examination meeting of the Culture - Social Committee on the morning of December 4.on some resolutions to be submitted to the upcoming meeting of the Provincial People's Council.
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| Comrade Ho Phuc Hop - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Head of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Department chaired the meeting. Attending were comrades of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee: Cao Thi Hien - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Le Minh Thong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; representatives of relevant departments, branches and sectors. Photo: Hoai Thu |
Apply the price frame for medical examination and treatment services according to Circular 02
In preparation for the draft resolution regulating the prices of medical examination and treatment services not covered by the Health Insurance Fund in state-owned medical examination and treatment facilities in Nghe An province, the Department of Health has collected opinions from localities and received 25 written comments.
At the meeting, the representative of the Department of Health said: The maximum price according to the price frame for medical examination and treatment services according to Circular 02/2017/TT-BYT dated March 15, 2017 of the Ministry of Health is equal to the price of medical examination and treatment services in Circular No. 37/2015/TTLT-BYT-BTC regulating the unification of prices for medical examination and treatment services covered by health insurance among hospitals of the same rank nationwide.
Currently, the price of health examination and treatment services under health insurance stipulated in Circular 37 has been applied nationwide. Therefore, to ensure price equality, there is no distinction in the price of medical examination and treatment for patients without health insurance and patients with health insurance in the same medical facility. Therefore, applying the maximum price range is consistent with the State's pricing principles.
At the meeting, delegates basically agreed with the prices proposed in the draft; accordingly, 1,916 medical examination and treatment services have specific prices applied at State medical facilities in Nghe An province.
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| Payment for medical examination and treatment costs at Vinh City General Hospital. Photo courtesy |
Mr. Bui Dinh Long - Secretary of Nam Dan District Party Committee, member of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee, said: The drafting committee chose the price level stipulated in Circular 02 to facilitate medical facilities in medical examination and treatment and monitoring work, creating balance in applying medical service prices; bringing to one price level and this price level is higher than the current price level to encourage 15% of the population who have not participated in health insurance to buy health insurance.
Some delegates suggested that the drafting agency add more specific information, such as: stipulating the conditions attached to the payment of some specific services; for the proposal to increase the price of some services, it is necessary to specify how many times, what percentage, how many new services will increase in price; it is necessary to prepare more specific related information to answer delegates when requested at the upcoming meeting of the Provincial People's Council...
Agreeing with the draft of this resolution, however, comrade Ho Phuc Hop emphasized: “The Ministry of Health promulgating the maximum price that localities also apply the maximum, there is no need for localities to meet to discuss. Therefore, the application of State regulations needs to be considered to adjust the price of specific services based on the suitability with the conditions of each locality and must be suitable to the payment ability of the majority of people”.
Concerns about funding for the School Milk Program
Also in the morning, the meeting discussed the mechanism for implementing the school milk program for preschool and primary school children in the province in the period of 2018 - 2020. With the goal set by Nghe An by 2025 to reduce the rate of stunting malnutrition in children under 20%; bringing the rate of stunting malnutrition in children under 5 years old to below 15%, the implementation of the school milk program is very necessary.
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| Comrade Ho Phuc Hop speaks at the meeting. Photo: Hoai Thu |
Through the survey of the Provincial People's Council's Culture and Society Committee at a number of schools in the province, it shows that after 2 years of piloting this program in the province, it has achieved good results and has been supported by the majority of people. Therefore, to continue implementing the school milk program in the period of 2018 - 2020, the issuance of a resolution by the Provincial People's Council is appropriate and necessary.
Implementing the School Milk Program, primary and preschool students are given milk 5 times/week, each time 1 carton of 180ml milk/child for 9 months of schooling. Currently, the whole province has 69% of preschool and primary school students participating in this program, of which 100% are students from poor households - Category A (100% free milk); the lowest participation rate is students from well-off households - Category C (30% support), some localities such as Vinh City only reach 20%; Thach Giam commune, Tuong Duong district more than 7%...
| According to calculations, each year the budget for implementing the School Milk Program is more than 700 billion VND, of which the province supports and parents contribute more than 400 billion VND; the rest is from social mobilization and support from milk suppliers. |
Therefore, some delegates raised concerns about mobilizing funding sources to ensure the program is implemented effectively, ensuring regulations such as: the provincial budget supports 10% of the remaining funding (in addition to the contribution of parents and support from businesses and other sponsors).
Comrade Ho Phuc Hop requested the Provincial People's Committee to study and develop a specific and suitable project to implement the school milk program to help submit the resolution to the Provincial People's Council for approval.
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| The Provincial People's Council's Culture and Social Affairs Committee surveyed the implementation of the School Milk Program in Tuong Duong district. Photo: Hoai Thu |
Also in the morning, the meeting also gave opinions on the contents of reports in the field of culture and society, including: resolving voters' recommendations before and after the 4th session of the 17th Provincial People's Council; the Provincial People's Committee on the implementation of the Provincial People's Council's resolutions from the beginning of the term to the present; resolving conclusions after the questioning session at the 3rd and 4th sessions of the Provincial People's Council and the implementation of recommendations after the supervision of the Committee on Culture and Society from the beginning of the term.
Hoai Thu