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By:
Saranda Ramaj
- July 23, 2024 19:22
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Some private hospitals in Albania offer different prices to Kosovar patients who visit them to receive medical services with their own budget, compared to those whose expenses are covered by the Health Insurance Fund.
Based on the invoices in KOHA's possession, for the same services, a private hospital has charged self-financing patients 20 percent lower than those subsidized by the Fund.
A citizen who showed the invoices to TIME and asked not to be identified, said that for the treatment through the Fund in a private hospital in Albania, the hospital staff informed him that for the procedure that costs about 1 euros, the difference if he pays himself is about 600 euros.
The private hospital that benefits the most from patients receiving treatment through the Fund is the American one. Regarding the case, KOHA addressed questions via email, but has not received an answer.
The Health Insurance Fund stated that patients did not address such complaints in writing, and clarified the procedure for how patients decide on the hospitals where their treatments are subsidized.
"Based on UA 03/2023, the patient selects the institution to provide the necessary health service. The Fund financially covers the health service for the patient according to the Decisions of the Board for TMJISHP based on the criteria defined in UA 03/2023 (reference prices)", says the Fund's response.
This institution, with the change of the Administrative Instruction, has set a fixed price for 115 diagnoses. And for others, the price is determined after the patients send three profiles of different hospital institutions to the Fund.
The Fund said that they are confirming all the received proposals with the hospitals.
"Regarding the fees, which are provided by UA 03/2023 (application with 3 fees for services that are not part of the appendix), according to the Board's assessment, the Fund has requested and continues to request confirmations for each fee from the relevant health institutions. The issue of profits has been addressed to the relevant institutions", says the Fund's response.
According to this institution, in addition to the American one, the hospitals that last year were most often chosen by patients receiving health care through the Program for Treatment Abroad in Albania, are Hygea and the German Eye Clinic.
KOHA asked the hospitals if there are differences in prices for the services they offer to patients with a private budget and those subsidized by the Fund. At the Hygea hospital they did not respond, and at the German Clinic they said that there should be no differences for these categories.
"The awards of the German Eye Clinic in Pristina and that of Tirana have no differences in terms of treatment of patients, both privately and through the Fund. The only difference is in the KERATOPLASTIC service, which costs 10.000 euros for Albanian patients and 12.000 euros for Kosovo patients, regardless of whether they pay privately or through the Fund", says the response of the German Eye Clinic in Pristina.
KOHA asked the Fund for information on how much it paid for each hospital, but did not receive an answer.
