Vietnam’s hospital fees to rise by up to sevenfold next month

Such a hospital fee hike is necessary because all expenses directly related to medical examination and treatment of patients as well as various allowances for health workers will now be counted in the prices of some 1,800 medical services available at public hospitals, said Pham Luong Son, head of the agency’s department for health insurance policy implementation.

For example, bed charges at first-class and special hospitals will double to VND677,000 (US$30.3) per day in intensive care units, and to VND197,000-306,000 ($8.8-13.7) per day in other wards, Son said.

Similarly, the cost of stomach flushing will rise from the current VND30,000 ($1.34) to VND106,000 ($4.75), the official said.

Regarding examination fees, they will increase from VND20,000 ($0.9) to VND39,000 ($1.75) at first-class and special infirmaries, and from VND15,000 ($0.67) to VND37,000 ($1.65) at second-class hospitals, Son said.

At third and fourth-class hospitals, the examination will rise by three times to VND32,000 ($1.43) and by four times to VND30,000 respectively, he added.

Meanwhile, the cost of surgery will go up by VND300,000-1.5 million ($13.4-67.2), said Nguyen Nam Lien, head of the ministry’s Department of Planning and Finance.

The new pricing scheme will also include salaries for doctors and wages for other health workers in the prices of medical services from March 2016, Lien said.

This means if a patient pays VND6 million ($270) for his medical treatment, VND350,000-400,000 ($15.8-18) of the amount will be used to cover wages for doctors and other health workers, Lien explained.

Big burden on uninsured patients

As such, the hospital fee hike is heavy on people without health insurance, so the Ministry of Health has decided that the new prices will not be applied to uninsured patients between now and the middle of next year.

Currently, 73 percent of the country’s population is covered by health insurance, which means about 25 million people are having to pay hospital fees by themselves, Son said.

These uninsured people will be heavily affected by the upcoming hike in hospital fees, the second increase since 2012, he added.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Bich Huong, deputy director of the Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi, said, “The increase of hospital fees by 2-7 times will put a great burden on uninsured patients.”

Therefore, from now until the middle of 2016, agencies concerned should take measures to encourage and support people in getting themselves covered by health insurance, Dr. Huong said.