'Hospitals tend to exploit patients'

'Hospitals tend to exploit patients'

Many poor people say that hospitals, including those run by the
state, offer them inferior services because they do not have the
money to pay for quality health care. The Jakarta Post spoke with
a number of residents about the issue.

Marius Widjajarta, 51, is a doctor and head of the Indonesian
Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation. He lives in Bintaro,
Tangerang, with his wife and son:

I can't deny that many profit-oriented hospitals tend to
exploit patients, maybe by offering health care packages.

I'm afraid all hospitals will become more profit-oriented with
regional autonomy because they will be a source of income for the
provinces or regencies/municipalities.

There is a basic principle that hospitals must not turn away
patients in emergency cases, even if they do not have the money
to pay for their care. But this does not work at all. Hospitals
can act like the mafia because there are no regulations on
medical services.

There needs to be some kind of cross-subsidy from the rich to
allow the poor to have access to health care. But consumers are
not aware of this because of the lack of a public campaign.

I think an improved health insurance system would curb this
kind of exploitation because insurance companies would have to
scrutinize the hospitals' claims.

Rita, 27, is a medical doctor at a clinic in Kalibaru, Central
Jakarta. She lives in Salemba, Central Jakarta, with her husband:

I disagree with the discriminatory practices of many hospitals
nowadays. Patients should be the first priority and the financial
negotiations can come after that.

The health of patients is far more important than their social
status and financial standing.

I cannot deny that many hospitals are like shopping centers,
selling various treatments to make a profit.

Hospitals have no reason to reject patients, even if they
can't make a down payment. They can recommend the patients to
another hospital, but don't refuse them.

Every hospital should have a program to help the poor.

But the patients must also cooperate. If their condition is
not an emergency, they must be understanding about getting slower
treatment. Usually patients insist on being seen first even if
there are other patients who are more critical.

Opi, 29, works for a company in South Jakarta. She lives in
Tangerang with her family:

When my grandmother was in the emergency room of a hospital in
Central Jakarta, the nurses asked me to pay Rp 250,000 (US$29.41)
for medicine every day. But they refused to show me the medicine
or the prescription, even when I insisted.

The administrative staff also refused to provide copies of the
prescription.

I suspect that hospitals blackmail patients' families, who are
already paying Rp 500,000 a day for their loved ones to be
treated in the emergency room.

During my grandmother's three-week stay in the hospital, we
rarely saw any doctors coming to check on her. But the hospital
charged us hundreds of thousands of rupiah for doctor
examinations.

We paid Rp 40 million and my grandmother died the third week
she was in the hospital. We had to pay the hospital bill even
though it had exploited my grandmother to make money.

-- Leo Wahyudi S.