Expected revenue from hospitals for 2019-’20 doubles to KD 45mn
Call to impose fees on beach goers
KUWAIT CITY, Aug 15: Health sources revealed that the expected revenue collected from hospitals, estimated in the budget of the Ministry of Health for the current fiscal year (2019-2020) doubled to 45 million dinars, due to the increase in fees for visitors to the casualty departments in hospitals for expatriates covered by the health insurance system from 5 to 10 dinars, in addition to the expected increase in maternity fees in the coming period, reports Al-Rai daily.
The sources pointed out that the revenues from hospitals also come from the provision of private rooms and radiology and artificial limbs and some medical analysis and fees and is expected to increase by 20 million dinars, according to budget estimates for the current fiscal compared to the previous year which was (25 million dinars).
The sources pointed out the budget statement shows the revenues expected to be collected from the health insurance for expatriates are estimated at more than 108 million dinars, especially since the ministry collects fees (online) after cancelling the contract with the service provider as of July 28, 2019.
Meanwhile, there have been calls from a group of activists to impose fees on public utilities, such as beaches, in order to regulate access to them and maintain cleanliness, reports AlRai daily.
They justified their calls by saying since these facilities are free of charge, people who make use of them do not bother to clean the place after using it and as a result, the places, especially the beaches are littered with garbage and food leftovers.
As an example, the activists cited overcrowding during the Eid holidays where families took to the beaches to spend time and beat the high temperatures.
During an online survey former vice president of the Kuwait Farmers Union, Nadia Al-Othman, told AlRai, “The claims are not limited to citizens, but also expatriates and demanded to impose fees on the beaches, like the fees imposed on campers during winter.
“What is happening is destruction of the environment, and when we talk about it, the government says the number of cleaning workers is not enough, and as a result ends up bringing more and more marginal workers to Kuwait,” Al-Othman said.