Investments in private health dry up
Posted by meb at September 15th, 2009
No one in their right mind would invest in Turkey’s private health sector, says Abit Bakistanlı, chairman of the Hospitalium Medical Group. First the government provided major incentives to enable rapid growth in the sector, but now they are talking about cutbacks. Not only that but they do not have a five-year plan for the sector and ever-changing regulations generate major troubles, he says
The private health sector has been growing rapidly. Currently, it constitutes 30 percent of Turkey’s entire health sector, with 420 hospitals and 200,000 employees.
Once people with pension funds and social security were given the chance to receive treatment at private hospitals, lines at the doors of public hospitals shortened. But at the same time, the new system has quadrupled the government’s public health spending since 2002 to 34 billion Turkish Liras, according to Emin Zararsız, president of Turkey’s Social Security Institution, or SGK.
Investments in private hospitals are long-term, said Abit Bakistanlı, chairman of the Hospitalium Medical Group, which owns three hospitals and one medical center in Istanbul. Right now there are too many problems facing the sector therefore no one is investing, he said. “The only private hospitals under construction are those that had received permits earlier. No one in their right mind would invest in this sector right now.
“Too many fingers are pointed at the private hospitals for exploiting the government’s budget. There is a lot of prejudice against us. Private hospitals are not the only reason why government health spending has surpassed its budget,” said Bakistanlı. “At least not all hospitals are to be blamed. If we were leaching off the government then we would not be facing such debts.”
Every now and then the issue rises up again and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is well aware of the ramifications of a budget reduction in the health sector. Therefore, he always reiterates his opposition to such cuts. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek takes a different stance at another meeting and states that cut backs in the health sector are a must. “It has also become impossible to follow the ever-changing regulations,” Bakistanlı said. Many health policies are suspended way before results are obtained, he said. “Neither the Ministry of Health nor the SGK have a five-year plan. Therefore we can’t have one either,” said Bakistanlı. “It cannot go on like this, and if it does, many hospitals will end up having to file for bankruptcy.
“They say the government’s health expenditures are up,” he said. “That was simply because people have been benefiting from services that are rightfully theirs. Now people choose to go to private hospitals to get their prescriptions written,” Bakistanlı said.
“First they gave us incentives and now they are swinging their swords over our heads.” said Bakistanlı. “The system got really mixed up. Now there is a new regulation. We woke up one day to discover its existence.”
He said the amount a government employee must pay at private hospitals has increased. If a government employee chooses to go to a public hospital he or she will pay 3 liras on top of insurance, if it’s a university hospital then he or she pays 6 liras and if its a private hospital they he or she pays the biggest difference, 10 liras.
“How is this justice?” Bakistanlı said this implementation would deter many patients from choosing private hospitals over public ones. “Here I invested. I employ doctors and pay my taxes [as a private hospital]. So why is there such discrimination?
“The grounds for receiving fee differences should be clear,” said Bakistanlı. “It would be understandable to get such a fee from a patient who chooses a private hospital over a public hospital for his or her treatment, but if the patient’s condition was urgent and he or she was brought to the emergency room, then this fee should be waived.”
source: Hurriyet daily news
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