July Health Shake-Up: New Medical Tariffs Announced by Health Minister – International Edition (English)
Starting July 1, 2025, new medical tariffs will be implemented across health facilities, coinciding with the start of the 2025/2026 fiscal year, according to the Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana.
Nsanzimana informed that the new tariffs will vary based on the facility type, ranging from small health organizations to large university teaching hospitals. The New Times , without providing details.
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Christian Ntakirutimana, who serves as the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Private Medical Facilities Association (RPMFA), emphasized the importance of conducting an extensive and open examination of medical fees to guarantee they align with present advancements in healthcare and related expenses.
He mentioned that without official updates on when the updated tariffs will be released or implemented, it’s challenging for those involved to make effective plans.
Ntakirutimana highlighted that the present tariffs have remained unchanged for eight years, even though numerous pledges were made about revisions that never came through. He emphasized the critical need to release updated tariffs promptly and cautioned that these continuous postponements are imposing substantial economic pressure on individual healthcare service providers.
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Because old tariff structures fail to consider inflation or increasing expenses related to medical supplies, drugs, and staff wages, numerous private establishments have been compelled to seek financial assistance from banks, resulting in significant debts, as noted by Ntakirutimana.
"The delay is forcing private medical facilities to operate at a loss," he said, indicating that they have to cover rent, staff salaries, and equipment purchases without the government subsidies that public institutions receive."
Ntakirutimana advocated for setting up a robust periodic evaluation system to guarantee that tariffs reflect real economic conditions, thereby protecting private service providers from financial turmoil.
Nsanzimana responded by saying, “the tariffs will undergo revision biennially,” which is a change intended to tackle the issues faced by private healthcare providers.
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Concerning the rise in healthcare expenses, according to data provided by RPMFA, the average salary of a senior specialist doctor increased from Rwf1.5 million in 2017 to Rwf3 million in 2023—a doubling over six years. Meanwhile, the compensation for a registered nurse saw a growth of 40%, climbing from Rwf250,000 to Rwf350,000 during this period.
The cost of a minicap hemoglobin test [per kit] skyrocketed to Rwf600,000 in 2023, up from Rwf189,600 in 2017, indicating an over twofold surge. The minicap hemoglobin device is engineered for analyzing hemoglobin—the protein within red blood cells tasked with transporting oxygen from the lungs to various tissues and organs throughout the human body.
Other equipment whose prices went up include a Minividas Immuno analyser (fully automated) - used for analysing antibodies and antigens in blood samples - whose cost rose to Rwf14.5 million in 2023, up from Rwf11 million in 2017.
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On January 17, the Cabinet agreed to revise the health service fees -- marking the first adjustment since 2017.
The Ministry of Health indicated that the old price structures do not match up with current healthcare service expenses due to the government’s expenditures on advanced medical devices and facilities, along with increases in drug and various medical product pricing.
In public amenities, costs for sophisticated services like medical imaging and radiology have decreased following the revised pricing schedule.
For instance, the ministry stated that the expense of a CT brain scan for CBHI-enrolled patients, commonly referred to as Mutuelle de Santé , decreased from Rwf45,000 to Rwf16,283.
Members of CBHI now contribute a 10 percent copayment of Rwf1,628, which is reduced from Rwf4,500.
CBHI continues to be the predominant health insurance program in Rwanda, providing coverage for 93 percent of the over 11.5 million insured individuals, which amounts to more than 10.6 million people. This information is based on the seventh Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV 7), conducted by the National Institute of Statistics Rwanda.
Provided by Syndigate Media Inc. ( Syndigate.info ).
