Following the recent decision taken by the Ministry of Health to have patients pay 10 percent upfront for their medical treatment, the public has given its opinion on the new payment system.The new system was devised after a rise in cases of patients sneaking out of public health facilities before clearing bills which was leading to public hospitals incurring huge losses.Victor Muvunyi, a Telecommunications System Engineer with MTN, says the new payment system is unfair. “Public hospitals shouldn’t be run like private businesses but rather offer services and then demand for payment. It is discourteous to make a client in a public institution pay for a service before receiving it. There are better ways of having patients clear up their bills other than this impolite strategy,” Muvunyi said.He suggested that hospitals should find other track down systems or keep patients’ IDs until they clear their medical bills.However Linda Ingabire, an employee of National Bank of Rwanda, agrees with the new payment process saying it’s the only way they can curb the problem.Ingabire said that the method was suitable for every place where people can easily escape without paying such as salons and restaurants.Haruna Kamili, 47, a cobbler in Remera, says that sometimes patients are charged money they can’t afford, thus compelling them to sneak out.“At times, one is transferred to one of the big public hospitals and the bill is so high. So if the 10 percent amounts to something like Rwf 80,000.A cobbler like me who can’t afford it has no option but to leave without paying”.He however hastened to add that it’s always good for patients to be told before, how much their treatment will cost so that they can find other options if they can’t afford.Sheila Etherington, in charge of Nursing Management at Kibogora Hospital, said the new payment system isn’t bad but called on health insurance schemes especially Mutuelle de santé, to foot their hospital bills on time.
