South Sulawesi govt raises hospital fees by up to 300%

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar

The South Sulawesi provincial government is facing rising public anger over its decision to raise fees at state hospitals, medical service units and blood transfusion units by between 50 percent and 300 percent.

Protesters began taking to the streets of the provincial capital Makassar even before the fee increases took effect on Sunday, and their anger has not abated.

On Wednesday, dozens of student representatives from Hasanuddin University, the Association of Indonesian Medical Students and the Association of Indonesian Muslim Students protested in front of the office of the South Sulawesi governor, to demand that the decision be revoked.

They said increasing medical fees went against the interests of residents, particularly the poor.

A similar protest was also held by the South Sulawesi chapter of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation.

Yudi Rahardjo, an executive at the foundation, lashed out at the decision, which he called "unilateral".

"The decision is one-sided and has further marginalized the poor," Yudi said.

Since the new fees were imposed on Sunday, patients in first- class rooms at state hospitals have had to pay Rp 150,000 (US$2.80) per day, an almost 300 percent increase from the previous price of Rp 64,000.

The cost of a second-class room rose to Rp 55,000 per day from Rp 16,000.

There have been similar increases in laboratory fees, doctor fees and other medical charges.

"After this decision, how will poor people be able to afford to go to the hospital?" Yudi asked.

Asri, one of the protesters in front of the office of the South Sulawesi governor, said: "The government only thinks about turning a profit at the hospitals. This is blatant discrimination against the poor."

The head of the South Sulawesi Health Office, Baasyir Palu, told the protesters the administration only raised the fees after receiving a proposal from the hospitals themselves.

He said the hospitals proposed the fee increases because they could no longer cover their operational costs, especially the cost of equipment and patient treatments, which had risen over the last several months.

Baasyir promised that the hospitals would improve the quality of their services with these new higher fees.