Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenian citizens will have to pay 500 to 1,000 AMD ($1.21–$2.42 USD) for any lab work or examination involving a medical instrument, reports RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun) [AM]. This procedure, however, won't yet apply to clinics outside of Yerevan. RA Ministry of Healthcare employee Karlen Antonyan informed Azatutyun that this is a token amount, and 50% of the money collected through this initiatives will go toward the salaries of medical personnel. He didn't say where the remaining 50% would go.
Treatment for complications arising during pregnancy will also be paid. For these, pregnant women will have to pay 5,000 AMD ($12.10). By setting this relatively high price, according to Health Minister Derenik Dumanyan, the state is fighting the shadow economy.
The minister said the state allocates more money to hospitals for miscarriages at 22 weeks of the pregnancy than miscarriages that occurred at 19 weeks, and medical establishments are trying to take advantage of the difference.
"What can I do to eliminate this violation? One option is to say I'm issuing an order, I will dismiss anyone who commits such a violation. He'll come again and convince me on a professional level that it was at 22 weeks, it was 23 weeks and not 21 [weeks]. He has the right to be mistaken by a two-week margin. But what should I do so my statistics are factual? So I have to make these two prices equal," said Dumanyan.