Burden for patients

Stop-gap measures won’t improve health care

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to reduce health insurance coverage on drugs for outpatients who directly go to general hospitals and university-affiliated hospitals skipping visits to neighborhood clinics. The move is designed to encourage patients to use more clinics and cut down on the snowballing deficit of the National Health Insurance.

However, the plan is only seen as a stop-gap measure that cannot achieve the two intended goals. It is feared to bring about a health care divide among the rich and the poor. If the drug coverage cut is implemented, low-income earners will be forced to visit clinics although the service is not good compared with larger hospitals. On the other hand, wealthy people are more likely to frequent general hospitals despite the benefit reduction.

Under the plan, the ministry seeks to make patients using larger hospitals pay double for medicine. This smacks of a convenient policy on the part of the health authorities that will only sacrifice the interests of patients. Of course, this measure is likely to be applied to those with simple illnesses such as colds, headaches or stomachaches. Two years ago, the government raised patients’ share of medical bills at general hospitals and university-run hospitals. But the number of those visiting such big medical institutions has continued to rise, proving that the step was a failure.

There are growing public calls for bolder reform to change the outdated medial service delivery structure. Policymakers should not turn a blind eye to people’s aspiration for easier access to better health care services at reasonable prices. First of all, the ministry is required to make efforts to help neighborhood clinics enhance their medical services to attract more patients. The dilemma is how to do this with a limited budget and a chronic deficit of the insurance system.