Hospital fee increase, most patients surprised
Since August 1, many hospitals across the country have increased hospital fees. Previously, since mid-July, five central hospitals such as Bach Mai, Viet Duc, Central Hematology and Blood Transfusion, K Hospital, National Children's Hospital... have increased the prices of many medical services.
However, many hospitals have not yet publicly announced the new hospital fees according to regulations of the Ministry of Health, so most patients do not know about this adjustment.
According to a survey at the above hospitals, most patients and their families were surprised to learn that hospital fees started to increase from the beginning of August.
At Bach Mai Hospital, Mr. Nguyen Manh Minh (in Phu Xuyen, Hanoi) was waiting with his father for an MRI scan. He said that if you are sick, you just go to the doctor. The medical staff told you to pay as much as you want, not knowing that the hospital fees have increased.
Also waiting to have his son X-rayed, Mr. Tran Quang Thang (Thai Nguyen) said that he and his son traveled to Hanoi late at night to have a bone tumor examined. Mr. Thang lamented: “It’s still more than 20 minutes until our turn. At this rate, if we hurry, we’ll only get an X-ray this afternoon and the results tomorrow morning. Even if hospital fees increase, we’ll still have to wait like this, which is very tiring!”
At the K hospital, Ms. Mai Thi Anh is waiting for a check-up. She said that during her recent health check-up, the doctor told her that she had symptoms of breast cancer, so she came to the K hospital for a re-examination. "I don't know if the increase in hospital fees will improve the quality of medical examination and treatment. Waiting and lining up like this without getting your turn is so tiring," she complained.
In addition, at the National Children's Hospital, Viet Duc Hospital... when asked, most patients did not know about the increase in hospital fees.
Patients jostle to buy medical examination tickets at
National Children's Hospital
Multiple services maximized
Bach Mai Hospital is a special-class hospital (class 1) under the Ministry and is subject to the maximum price within the framework. It is known that Bach Mai Hospital has collected the new hospital fee at the maximum level for all 447 services. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hien said that with the new hospital fee policy, patients with health insurance will not be affected much, but those without a card will have to pay a relatively large amount. For example, for patients having a cesarean section, the hospital previously only collected 390,000 VND, but according to the new price framework, it will be up to 1.5 million VND.
Meanwhile, Viet Duc Hospital only increased 180/447 services, while hundreds of procedures and surgeries with high costs remained at the old price. The average increase in medical service prices at the hospital was adjusted by 90 - 95%. Of which, services belonging to specialized specialties had the maximum increase.
In addition to Bach Mai and Viet Duc, three other major medical facilities under the Ministry of Health, namely K Hospital, Central Hematology and Blood Transfusion Hospital, and Vietnam - Sweden Hospital in Uong Bi (Quang Ninh), have all applied new hospital fees.
Some provinces and cities have approved prices and put them into practice, such as Bac Ninh, Kon Tum, Kien Giang, Soc Trang, Vinh Long, Gia Lai, Hau Giang, Khanh Hoa, Dong Thap, Ninh Thuan... Hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are waiting to submit them to the People's Council in the next session.
According to (vnmedia)-TN
