(Photo Illustration by Houssam Chbaro)
BEIRUT — President of the union of hospital workers in Lebanon, Sleiman Haroun, made a public plea to the outgoing government for essential funding to cover the actual costs of medical care provided by public health insurance organizations. The request is aimed at enabling these entities to renegotiate higher rates with both public and private healthcare facilities.
Haroun's statement refers specifically to the National Social Security Fund, mutual aid societies, and similar institutions currently negotiating their tariffs with hospitals independently.
In a statement released after the union's meeting, Haroun explained that hospitals conducted a study on the necessary adjustments needed to align tariffs in an effort to avoid payment delays and ensure healthcare establishments can cover their expenses. According to Haroun, there's a need for a tariff increase ranging between 30 to 100 percent.
Haroun said that hospitals are facing skyrocketing costs due to several factors, including salary raises following the latest state budget increment for public servants, all taxes aligning to an exchange rate of 89,500 LL, and rising costs related to electricity and medical equipment maintenance.