In an interview with the “LBCI” channel, Haroun said: “Our expenses and purchases are in dollars, even part of the wages are in dollars, and hospitals began a long time ago, i.e. several months ago, to issue dollar bills.”
For his part, Asaad Mirza, head of insurance companies’ associations, confirmed that “there is pressure from doctors to increase the tariff to 100 percent, at a time when people in Lebanon cannot afford the cost of medical treatment.”
In his turn, Sadiq Alawiyeh, a researcher at the International Information Institute, said: “The numbers regarding the state and all the regulating bodies are just a point of view, and as long as there is no basic solution for the Lebanese economy, the chaos in the hospital sector continues.”
The head of the Doctors Syndicate in Beirut, Youssef Bakhash, demanded that “no one outbid the doctor,” saying: “We still provide hospitalization for patients, and the fee allowance has not been adjusted for years, and there was an agreement with the insurance companies to gradually raise the tariff, but they broke the promise and turned away from us.” And they began to sign with the hospitals a padded disciplinary clause.”
He added, during an intervention on “LBCI”, that “there are a lot of doctors’ fees that have not been paid since 2022, and confidence has been lost with private insurance.”
In response to the head of the associations of insurance companies, Asaad Mirza, that “the number of affiliates has not decreased in insurance companies,” he said.
The Minister of Health in the caretaker government, Firas Al-Abyad, also saw that “what we are facing in the health sector is a reflection of the economy, and before the crisis, 70 percent of the costs were paid by the state through the Ministry of Health and the guarantors. Insurance coverage is very minimal.
He indicated, in an interview with “LBCI”, that “when the agreement takes place with the IMF, part of the money will go to the hospital sector, but the IMF has been disturbed by the performance of the Lebanese state for 3 years.”
He said, “The budget of the Ministry of Health has declined due to the crisis, and the capacity of the guarantors has become few, and I do not think that private insurance is the solution.”
