KOROR (Palau Horizon) – The Ministry of Health (MOH) offers a new approach to hospital voucher system in order to encourage non-Palauan residents to visit the hospital when they get sick and minimize the impact of the transmission of illness-causing viruses and bacteria.
The MOH has started a new approach to provide incentives for any non-Palauan residents to volunteer their services in exchange for vouchers that may be used to pay the cost of the healthcare they receive.
“It’s already been approved,” Minister of Health Stevenson Kuartei said in an interview. “If members of non-Palauan association want to come in, they can sign a contract. They’ll know how much the work is worth, then they will be given a voucher that they can use to pay for medical services.”
Unlike the old system where association members get 50 percent discount, Kuartei explained that for the new system, volunteers get a voucher equivalent for the work that they did. In the old system, he added, some associations did volunteer work and some did not. “And all of them get the same 50 percent discount,” he said.
Another reason why MOH is pushing the voucher system is to encourage the non-Palauan residents to avoid postponing their visits to the hospital when they get sick.
Volunteers can help the MOH with the repair, maintenance, construction and other needed projects in exchange for a voucher equivalent to the work they have rendered.
The voucher is transferrable to any members of the association.
