The Health Insurance Review Agency (HIRA) found that hospitals had overcharged their patients for health insurance coverage.//

It had received a total of 11,139 complaints last year from patients who doubted their medical fees were right. Following this they analyzed medical institutions' requests for insurance coverage submitted to the agency affiliated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

It was found that in about 29.2 % or 3248 cases the hospitals had overcharged their patients for health insurance coverage. The patients then received about 1.48 billion as medical refunds.

The amount of refunds was up 66 % higher when compared with the previous year. The hospitals included all the insurance-covered treatment as non-insurance-covered and forced the patients to pay more money.

In some cases the patients were charged with extra treatment fees which were already included in their health insurance coverage. The main aim of the agency is to protect patients' rights. It is a free service and is in the system since 2003. Patients can apply for the system via the agency's homepage.

Some civil groups such as the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), has also reported that 56 hospitals and clinics are managed illegally and they rake about 700 million in monthly health insurance coverage by forging documents. Some of the hospitals hire brokers for the fabrication of prescription forms and illegitimate requests for health insurance coverage.


'"/>




Page: 1
Related medicine news :

1. Apollo Hospitals to consider listing on US Bourses in 2003
2. Apollo Hospitals Collaborates With Histostem For Stem Cell Therapy
3. Indian Hospitals – A Destination For Quality Medical Care
4. Researchers Begin Study To Find Out If Angioplasty Can Be Safely Done In Smaller Hospitals
5. Quality Awareness In Hospitals Can Reduce Mortality Rate Of Patients
6. First PET-CT guided radiotherapy in India was performed by Apollo Hospitals
7. Delhi Government To Interlink All Major Hospitals Through e-Governance
8. Global Hospitals coming to city of Joy
9. Indias Hospitals Among The Best, Says Renuka Chowdhury
10. Apollo Hospitals Short-listed to Provide Diagnostics in the UK
11. Apollo Hospitals to invest Rs 350 cr to add 1,800 beds