Patients register for medical examination at Phu Nhuan District Hospital - Photo: NGAN HA
Ms. Ngan Ha, 32 years old, living in Ho Chi Minh City, said: "I fainted in the bathroom early in the morning and was taken to Phu Nhuan District Hospital by my family for examination immediately after that."
Absolutely not allowed to see a doctor a second time
However, when arriving at the hospital, Ms. Ngan Ha was awake and had a normal pulse, so the hospital medical staff guided her to a regular medical examination.
"I registered for a general internal examination under health insurance, and the doctor ordered a blood test and an electrocardiogram. The examination results did not detect any cardiovascular abnormalities and only mild anemia, so the doctor advised me to go home and monitor further.
However, this was the first time I suddenly fainted for no apparent reason, so the doctor advised that if I was not reassured, I could be hospitalized for further monitoring, or if I returned home, I had to be closely monitored. If there were any abnormalities, I had to be hospitalized immediately.
I decided to go home for monitoring and completed the examination process, and got my health insurance card back," said Ms. Ngan Ha.
However, when she got home, Ms. Ngan Ha felt nauseous again. Before that, when she was taken to the hospital, she had a swelling on her head but did not know why. She thought it might be because she fell and hit her head on the sink after fainting.
When she arrived at the hospital, the swelling on her head was not large and only painful to the touch, so she did not tell the doctor. Her family was not reassured, fearing that she had a brain hemorrhage, so they took her back to Phu Nhuan District Hospital for further examination of her head.
When taking a queue number at the health insurance registration counter, the counter staff returned the health insurance card and said that she had completed the health insurance examination process before and could not register for a second health insurance examination at this hospital.
If you want to see a doctor, you can register for a free medical examination or go to another district hospital. Only in case of emergency can you be admitted to the emergency room. If you still want to see a doctor under health insurance, you can come back on Monday.
Ms. Ha said: "I asked where I could see this regulation, this employee just replied that this is a general health insurance regulation."
"If the patient has to be hospitalized for emergency care for the second time in a day, he or she will still be examined and treated under health insurance. If it is not an emergency, he or she will have to undergo a medical examination. Or the patient will have to transfer to another hospital to register for health insurance payment. Why is there such a regulation?", Ms. Ngan Ha was upset.
Do not refuse medical examination and treatment
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance - said: Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance has received feedback from readers of Ngan Ha newspaper to Tuoi Tre newspaper about the above issue.
Through verification and working with Phu Nhuan District Hospital, the City Social Insurance said that Phu Nhuan District Hospital's reception and treatment of patients in general and health insurance patients in particular must comply with the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, and must not refuse when people need medical examination and treatment.
Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance pays for health insurance medical examination costs according to the instructions in Circular 22/2023/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health dated November 17, 2023. Accordingly, there is no limit on the number of medical examinations to be paid.
In the case of reader Ngan Ha, when there were abnormal signs and she returned to Phu Nhuan District Hospital for a second examination on the same day, it would be considered a second medical examination, with a health insurance payment price of 30% compared to the first examination price. The costs incurred during the second medical examination would be paid according to the actual cost within the scope of health insurance coverage.
According to the City Social Insurance, Phu Nhuan District Hospital has also corrected the staff's inaccurate explanation to the above patient.
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