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Hospitals overcharge patients for profits
By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-05 05:48

Hospitals motivated by profit rather than the health of their patients are to blame for some of the problems plaguing China's health system, Minister of Health Gao Qiang said in a report released yesterday.

 Gao Qiang: New reform needed.
Money hungry hospitals are putting up barriers preventing the public from accessing and affording medical treatment, he said.

The minister accused State-run medical facilities, supposed to provide "safe, reliable and inexpensive" services, of relying on income from patients as a means for further development.

"Medical institutions have been over-commercialized, relying chiefly on exorbitant charges for their maintenance and development," according to the report.

"Patients' medical bills have been used to cover almost everything: medicine costs, wages and subsidies for medical personnel, both doctors and nurses, new medical apparatus and hospital facilities," the minister said.

"The next step of medical reform will focus more on the public interest and affordability of medical services for all."

The ministry, along with related State departments, has begun to outline new reform, the China Youth Daily reported yesterday, quoting an unidentified official.

The ministry did not disclose any details or when the reform would be announced.

Last week's release of a report co-sponsored by the State Council's Development Research Centre and the World Bank sent shockwaves through the country when it labelled reform of the national medical system "basically unsuccessful."
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