Hospital Fee Hike Will Hurt Most 27M Poor Vietnamese People: Ministry

As many as 27 million poor Vietnamese who have no health insurance will be seriously affected by the hospital fee hike, said the Ministry of Health. Currently, about 70% of Vietnam’s population of over 90 million has health insurance, the ministry said. Its plan to increase hospital fees will also affect people who have purchased health insurance, the ministry said. Earlier, the ministry released its plan to raise hospital fees. Accordingly, hospitals in the country will raise the prices of healthcare services between 2015 and 2018 by calculating all costs related. This year they start to calculate the expenditures on their staffs’ salaries, Mr. Lien said. So far, Vietnam has counted three out of seven expenditures in healthcare services fees. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Vietnam –Vietnam Economic Time Apr 14)a