MoH eyes solutions to tackle overseas treatment bills issue

This news has been read 40695 times!

Int’l hospitals apologize for not receiving Kuwaiti patients

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 10: In light of the increasing financial claims from hospitals and international medical centers for Kuwait to pay accumulated sums in return for the treatment of citizens, Ministry of Health is currently studying more than one solution and proposals to deal with the crisis, on top of which is to stop sending patients abroad for a specific period until sufficient funds are obtained to resume activities, reports Al-Qabas daily.

Official sources stated the Ministry of Health is facing problems related to the payment of fees owed to the international hospitals that provide health services to Kuwaiti patients in five countries; namely the United States, Britain, France, Thailand and the UAE. The amount is up to 348.5 million dinars, in addition to 2 million dinars for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they noted.

Financial
Sources said the ministry did not obtain sufficient financial allocations from the Ministry of Finance to pay parts of the sums owed, which led to a number of international hospitals apologizing for not receiving Kuwaiti patients due to accumulated dues, without hope of making payments.

They revealed “it was not possible to receive Kuwaiti patients in German hospitals due to the outstanding bills issue, while the situation became more complicated with the start of the corona crisis through which the French health centers classified Kuwait among countries where the pandemic’s spreading, in addition to a large number of American hospitals stopping the treatment of Kuwaitis”. Sources revealed that the ministry recently approved the treatment of 450 male and female citizens, with the aim of receiving the necessary treatment and health care in some countries after the issuance of official approvals by specialized and higher committees to send them abroad, indicating the files of sick cases and diseases suffered were reviewed before their approval.

They added approvals were issued to send about 900 citizens (patients and their companions) abroad after the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health’s decision on September 21 requesting the specialized committees for emergency treatment to return to work during the corona crisis.

This news has been read 40695 times!