South Sulawesi govt raises hospital fees by up to 300%
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.