The Ministry of Health should set up a timetable for creating a “pay after treatment” procedure as soon as possible, says an editorial in Beijing Youth Daily. Excerpts:

The media recently have reported that the Ministry of Health will implement a new policy that will allow patients to pay after they receive medical treatment. Officials of the Ministry of Health clarified in a report on Feb 19 that a “pay after treatment” procedure will be launched in some areas as a pilot program. Because of the limitations of the social credit system and medical insurance systems in various regions, this mode will not be fully implemented right away.

People may be disappointed that this new project, which benefits citizens’ livelihood, was soon denied by related departments. Medical insurance has been popular nationwide, but the range and level of medical security differ from place to place.

Minister of Health Chen Zhu has said that medical insurance can reimburse only about 50 percent of total medical expenses. Some patients still can’t afford expensive medical expenditures, and the hospitals also don’t believe all patients will pay after they receive treatment. Thus it’s not very realistic to fully implement a “pay after treatment” project nationwide.

But it is necessary to implement such a policy for the sake of all citizens. It’s not only a more convenient way of payment, but it’s also tied to medical ethics. Hospitals’ insistence that they can treat patients only after payment flies in the face of basic medical ethics to heal the wounded and rescue the dying, and may also lead to tragedies in which doctors leave patients to die only because the patients can’t pay.

As early as 2010, the Ministry of Health proposed launching “pay after treatment” nationwide. Three years later, ministry officials say such a program cannot be implemented in a short time, which is inconsistent in their previous words.

It is high time that authorities set up a timetable for the project and live up to peoples’ expectation.

Translated by Wang Yiqing