VietNamNet Bridge – The Health Ministry’s list of new prices for 447 health services cannot become effective on April 15 as planned, since necessary preparations required by the applicable law have yet to be completed, a Health Ministry official said.

Nguyen Nam Lien, deputy head of the ministry’s Planning and Finance Department, made the statement yesterday regarding the new rates, saying they may be postponed until June or July.

Under the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, which took effect on January 1, 2011, people’s committees of provinces and cities are authorized to issue new prices for health services that are applied locally, based on the said list of maximum prices of 447 services, while the ministry is to issue those applied for hospitals at the central level.

Currently, the people’s committees of provinces and cities are building their local list of new prices and will have to present them at the meetings of the people’s councils scheduled in June for approval.

Meanwhile, central-level hospitals are also preparing their proposed lists to be submitted to the ministry for consideration.

This has led to the delay of the effectiveness of the new prices of health services, Lien said.

As earlier reported, most of the 447 involved services will see prices increase by 2-10 times, but for some other services, prices will be raised by up to 20 times.

For example, among common services, the fee for a general clinical examination or specialist examination will increase from the current VND3,000 to VND20,000 (US$0.96); the charge for stitch removal will be raised from VND3,000-10,000 to VND30,000-45,000, the cost for intraocular pressure measurement will increase from VND2,000-4,000 to VND18,000-44,000, and the expense for vaginal birth delivery will soar from VND50,000-150,000 to VND480,000-525,000.

In addition, the charges for regular health check-ups, health check-ups for people to be sent abroad for work, consultations, and dialysis are proposed to be VND50,000-100,000, VND200,000-300,000, VND300,000-500,000, and VND1.3 million ($62.3), respectively.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre