Paula Isteih wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat:
In light of the continuous collapse of the Lebanese pound against the dollar and the loss of the bulk of the Lebanese people’s purchasing power after their salaries turned into “symbolic” ones that were unable to cover their basic expenses, including food, housing, water and electricity expenses, practically these sectors became the exclusive monopoly of the rich, most notably hospitalization and education.
And after the guarantor government agencies covered before 2019 a large portion of the Lebanese who used to pay small differences in hospitals, these agencies that pay dues in Lebanese pounds are no longer able to cover even 10 percent of the hospital bill value, forcing the patient to pay huge sums for non-medicine. able to secure it in light of the ongoing financial collapse.
Hospital Owners Syndicate Suleiman Haroun was the first to warn more than a year ago that hospitalization would become a monopoly for the rich, which has become a fait accompli today, as he put it, pointing out in a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat that “a large number of patients no longer seek refuge.” To hospitals because they are unable to incur hospital expenses, which led to a decrease in the percentage of hospital admissions between 40 and 50 percent, after the bills were converted to fresh dollars (fresh dollars) completely.
Haroun points out that “hospitals are still receiving cases that are in grave danger and their lives are at stake in the event that funds are not available to cover the costs directly, but they are unable to do more than that because all medical supplies and all our expenses have become fresh (dollars) with the lifting of support for all Nothing but dialysis.” He pointed out that “a patient who suffered a broken foot, for example, will need to pay at least 3 thousand US dollars, or the equivalent of 360 million Lebanese pounds, to receive the necessary treatment.” He adds, “Some patients resort to health care centers, but these centers are unable to replace hospitals. Add that some people pay greater differences in government hospitals than those paid in private hospitals.
