Vietnam’s Hospital Fees to Rise in August

Prices of some 2,000 medical services available at public hospitals in Vietnam will rise in August, according to the roadmap set by the Ministry of Health. This move is a delay from a hike that was scheduled in July. However, in order to prevent the health care prices from affecting the consumer price index (CPI), the government has decided to move the adjustment back by one month and divide into different periods. The first hike will happen at the end of August where over 95% of the population has health insurance. The second hike will happen in October in places with 90% insurance coverage. The third will happen in November in 85% coverage locations. The fourth hike happened in December in localities with over 80% coverage. And the last hike will happen in January 2017. Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kiem Tien said that the different hikes aim to lower the impact of the health services on price level. She said that it would only push up the CPI by between 0.4% and 0.5% this year. Notably, the new hospital fees will be much higher than the previous ones for those who do not have health insurance since more expenses related to medical examination and treatment as well as allowances of doctors and health workers will be counted in the prices. (anninhthudo.vn June 6, vov.vn June 6)