China hospital charges patient 70 US cents for seat used during treatment
www.scmp.com
A hospital patient in China who sat down to receive intravenous treatment and was hit with a fee for the chair he used has sparked controversy.

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Addition for clarification: The “South China Morning Post”(SCMP) is a state-controlled Chinese media outlet. In this article, however, it criticizes the Chinese health care system and even cites ordinary citizens’ posts which don’t appear to be censored, a rare move in China. This is why the article is linked here. In general, however, one should be very careful using this source.

A hospital in China has stoked controversy by charging a patient for the use of a chair they were sitting on while receiving an intravenous infusion.

On mainland social media at the end of June, a person released a billing statement by the public-funded Ningxia Children’s Hospital, which showed that five yuan (70 US cents) had been charged for a seat, Zonglan Video reported.

It is not clear how old the patient was, or what they were being treated for, but the bill showed the medication contained antibiotics.

An official at the hospital in Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, northwestern China, said the fee was for two days’ use of a chair by the patient who was sitting on it while receiving an infusion. […] The controversial chair fee has become the subject of heated discussions on mainland social media, after being viewed 5 million times on Douyin alone.

“Hospitals are so commercial. I feel speechless about this fee,” one online observer said.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of this kind of cost in a hospital. Is there anything left that they do not charge fees for?” said another person.

“Are ordinary people now expected to bring their own chair to see doctors from now on,” a third said.

    • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
      171·
      6 months ago

      Look, if Americans could get this outraged over an 70 extra cents on a medical bill, we’d be a lot better off.

      But in America, they’d bill us an extra $2,000 for the same, and we’d just add it to our debts and carry on without even burning down an insurance company like we should be doing.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
        156·
        6 months ago

        Would you argue that medical bills would exist at all in a communist country? Because that was my point.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
            134·
            6 months ago

            I may be an utter idiot, but it’s weird how you aren’t billed for healthcare in a lot of non-communist countries.

            I guess universal healthcare is capitalism.

            • cygnus@lemmy.ca
              53·
              6 months ago

              Free healthcare and more than a few weeks’ maternity leave is capitalism. Communism is when billionaires and private real estate, and the more of those you have, the communismer it is.

    • cygnus@lemmy.ca
      82·
      6 months ago

      Agreed. I wonder how many of them have actually been to China. I have, and it’s almost comically un-communist. Most western democracies have far more robust social supports, and I’d even say it’s easier to have a worker-owned business in the west than in China.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
      313·
      6 months ago

      This medical bill is $30 USD. How the fuck is this capitalist???

      For anyone mad at this…in the US the don’t just charge you .70 for a chair they charge you hundreds or thousands for the whole room.

      Be more honest. You look like a fool.