MONROVIA –Sinoe County Senator Augustine Chea has proposed a bill seeking to provide free medical treatment for pregnant women and others at various public hospitals and medical centers across the country.
By Obediah Johnson
The bill titled: “An Act to Establish Free Emergency and Labor Medical Services in Public Health Facilities and to Prohibit Requirement of Advance Payment for Emergency and Labor Care Treatment and Admission at Private Health Facilities” was submitted during regular session at the Liberian Senate on Thursday, June 9.
Senator Chea disclosed that the proposed legislation is intended to address the growing challenges faced by citizens who are denied or delayed access to urgent medical attention due to their inability to pay or make immediate payments before treatment.
He named pregnant women, accident victims and other patients requiring emergency care are often placed at grave risks, with health care services conditioned upon advance financial deposits.
He emphasized that the bill also seeks to guarantee free emergency and labor-related health care services in all public health facilities throughout Liberia.
Senator Chea maintained that the proposed legislation would also prohibit private health institutions from refusing treatment, admission, or stabilization on a basis of non-payment or failure to make advance treatment—advance payment, sorry.
“The enactment of this legislation will help safeguard lives, improve maternal and emergency health care delivery, and ensure that no citizen is deprived of urgent medical care because of economic hardship or the make-advance payment.”
He said the bill intends to ensure that public health facilities provide treatment to citizens on a free of charge basis.
“Private health facilities operate on finances collected but request for finance should not be a prerequisite for the treatment of patients at these private health facilities . They should not demand payments before attending to patients. This doesn’t happen anywhere in the world.”
Senator Chea stressed that patients rushed under emergency should be admitted, stabilized and treatment before bills are generated and paid for their discharged.
He observed that under emergency situations patients or their relatives are subjected to pre-payments at various health facilities before being admitted or treated.
Meanwhile, the bill from Senator Chea has been forwarded to the Senate committee on Health and Judiciary for scrutiny.
