(VOVworld) – From March 1 nearly 1,900 different services and products at public hospitals will become around 30 percent more expensive.

Photo: VNA

The changes including fees for check-ups, beds, and surgery are in line with a decree jointly issued last October by the Ministries of Health and Finance.

The sharp increase in fees will likely encourage more people to buy health insurance, according to Nguyen Nam Lien, director of the Planning and Finance Department.

Lein said “the decree is applied to those who buy health insurance while non-insurance holders will continue to be charged with the current rates pursuant to the old legal documents.”

With this rise in medical services, the state budget for subsidizing the health sector will be used to support poor and nearly-poor people to buy health insurance while hospital fees will be paid by the medical insurance fund.