When a dialysis patient enters the hospital to be treated at the expense of the Ministry of Health or any other guarantor, it is expected that medical service will be provided to him, including medicines (two injections and epoetin), a doctor’s rent, a hospital fee, in addition to a meal, at the expense of the guarantor without paying any differences, but The patient enters, only to be surprised that he has to pay between $10 and $15 for the medicine, $50 for the hospital, and $100 for the doctor, or $10 for each entry. And some hospitals went to ask the patient to pay $ 300 for washing twice a week or $ 350 for washing three times a week, whatever the guarantor. It is noteworthy that the meal is registered on the Ministry of Health bill and has not been provided to the patient for more than two years.
In contact with the Advisor to the Minister of Health, Dr. Joseph Helou, he assured the “Lebanon Debate” that “handling this issue awaits the return of the Minister of Health, Dr. Firas Abiad, from abroad, in order to approve a new pricing for the Ministry of Health, which addresses the existing differences.”
He declared that he was unaware of the issue of not providing a meal, explaining that “hospitals charge differentials due to the Ministry of Health’s delay in paying their dues.”
The question remains, is it permissible for hospitals to charge for services that they did not provide to the patient and the meal is a good example of that, or to charge for the service twice? Does a dialysis patient have the luxury of waiting for the minister to return? Or bear to pay repeated amounts on a weekly or monthly basis that may exceed his monthly pension by several times? And the amounts that were paid pending the tariff adjustment, how are they compensated? Where is the control over hospitals? Questions awaiting answers from the consciences of officials!
