AMMAN —
Minister of Health Firas Al-Hawari said on
Sunday that the ministry is in the process of amending its health insurance
agreement with the Private Hospitals Association (PHA) to incorporate public
servants subscribed in the second and third class insurance into private
medical care in the event of emergencies.
اضافة اعلان
Once signed, the
amended agreement would give insured public sector employees access to 50
private hospitals across the Kingdom. Patients “would need less time to find
the nearest hospital to (their) residence or workplace,” according to
PHA President Fawzi Hammouri.
Hammouri said
that the government’s agreement with the PHA was signed in 2008, giving only
first-class insured public sector employees access to private hospitals, but
since then, the agreement has not been modified. “The proposed amendment would
achieve fairness and equality among the various classes.”
Moreover, the
government’s proposed annex to the agreement with the PHA would help relieve
pressures on public hospitals emergency rooms, especially “in light of
increased complaints by citizens of the poor quality service at public
hospitals,” according to Hammouri.
One major
complaint by patients who may need transfer to a private hospital is a
government instruction that requires the patient to present an official letter
signed by a special committee approving the referral. Oftentimes, the letter is
late to be issued, or the patient’s request is rejected, forcing the patient to
cover the medical care cost at their personal expense, especially when other
medical care options are not available.
Hammouri
proposed that this provision of the agreement be reviewed to give patients an
immediate referral approval to expedite admission to a private hospital.
Insurance and
social protection expert
Mousa Al-Subaihi told
Jordan News that he was
fully supportive of the proposed amendment, “as long as it does not lead to the
privatization of public hospitals.” He said that the amendment should be
temporary until public hospitals have been upgraded and all specializations are
available.
Subaihi also
urged the establishment of a special department that handles all issues related
to health insurance, including matters pertaining to subscribers and service
providers.
The agreement
will benefit 1.1 million Jordanians, who will only be required to cover 20
percent of the cost of private sector hospitalization, according to Hawari, who
said “the aim of the agreement is provide citizens with best care at low cost”.
Hawari denied that the
government has any intention to privatize the health sector, adding that recent
incidents that occurred in emergency rooms of public hospitals have prompted the
ministry to find alternative solutions that help reduce overcrowding at some of
the
public hospitals.
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