Lebanon‘s hospitals have requested that an exchange rate higher than the official one be adopted for hospital tariffs.
In a letter sent to the caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan and the Director-General of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Mohamad Karaki, the Syndicate of Hospitals in Lebanon requested that hospital tariffs be amended “in line with reality.”
The Syndicate suggested the adoption of the banking platform’s exchange rate (3,900 Lebanese pounds per U.S. dollar) instead of the official 1,500 LBP/USD for the current prices.
In the letter, the Syndicate cited the deteriorating economic conditions that the country and the hospital sector is going through.
It explained that 80% of the sector’s income comes from the official social security institutions, based on tariffs set in 1998 and according to the exchange rate of 1,500 LBP.
“As such, the sector is being depleted. On one hand, it’s required to continue providing its services at the pace that the citizen is accustomed to, and, on the other hand, must face the chaos prevailing in the market in terms of pricing its needs in terms of materials, medical supplies, and others.”
“Therefore,” the statement concluded, “we bring this letter to stress the need to amend the hospital tariffs in line with reality, and we suggest to your excellency the adoption of the price of the banking platform instead of 1,500 LBP for the prices currently applied.”
