Dili, November 8, 2024 (Média Democracia) – Regarding unpaid debts to hospitals abroad, the Minister of Health, Elia dos Reis Amaral said, before he was appointed as Minister of Health, the debt had reached 14 million, so that through the ratification financial mechanism, he had been able to pay more than 6 million to the hospital where the patient was.
Minister of Health Elia dos Reis Amaral said that for years the process of transferring patients abroad has been extensive.
“This debt we know that for years our country, Timor-Leste, especially our health sector, has carried out a free transfer process for patients to seek treatment abroad, so for years we know that there are also patients here, we cannot only look at the nominal amount, but many patients who seek treatment domestically and abroad.” She said.
When she started serving as Minister of Health, the debts already existed, so some had been paid and some had not.
“So this debt is accumulated, meaning when I served as Minister of Health the debt at that time was 14 million, then we paid more than 6 million with legitimate state finances, so with this 6 million accumulated in the report we received from abroad hospitals, the report was 21 million.” She said.
She added that as a Minister, he still needed to verify patients who were to be transferred abroad.
“However, this report does not mean it is true or not because the management can convey it, but as part of the country, the government and the ministry need to verify in order to treat patients there. Whether the patients who moved abroad are really Timorese or not, that’s why we need to know that the government’s responsibility is how to be transparent and responsible.” She continued.
She emphasized that the Ministry of Health will coordinate with the national medical association based on Law Number 58 of 2023.
“What does the Ministry of Health do with reports from overseas hospitals sent here? We don’t just throw them away, but we coordinate with the national medical association because before the medical association started, we had Law no. 58/2023 in September which states the mechanism for transferring patients to medical assistance strategies. With this law, we create a medical association so that the transfer can be based on applicable laws.” She said.
The Ministry has verified the 21 million reports with a medical team to double-check whether the patients are Timor-Leste citizens or not, so that they can respond to these matters.
She added that the Ministry of Health is also verifying reports received from abroad, which number 9 million.
“Therefore, we verified and from the report we received, we verified the nominal amount of 9 million, from the 9 million we found irregularities there, so through this we know that with these reports it is necessary to check again because there is public money so we need to see this transfer,” She added.
The Minister of Health added that it is necessary to check reports properly so that payments can be made according to the hospital where the patient is being treated.
“To note there we detected non-Timor-Leste people who crossed the existing border, so with this we need to check the report properly, coordinate the medical joint and then we make payments based on the features or those involved that come from each hospital that is related to patients or our citizens who seek treatment abroad.” She said.
This report shows that the Timor-Leste government carefully paid the 1 million, in the future it will verify these documents again before paying the debt in full.
Reported by : Estefania
Photo : Estefania