In 2019, it cost NOK 702 not to attend a doctor’s appointment. In 2020, the “no show” fee increased to NOK 1,053. In 2023, it increases to a further NOK 1,500. Simple mental arithmetic shows that this is more than a doubling in four years. It makes more people react. Will take the case to the Storting Last week, Bjørn-Erik Heiberg sent a counterclaim to the private X-ray clinic Evidia in Bodø after they canceled his appointment ten minutes before the appointment. After the issue was raised, he has received a lot of support. Heiberg says that many people have made contact. Bjørn-Erik Heiberg wonders when things will get better for those who have the least. Photo: Private – I’m not surprised, but I’m even more determined to get something done. We must put an end to this. That is Heiberg’s answer to questions related to the proposal to increase the fee. – This goes beyond the weakest and they are the ones I am looking to help, he says. This should be lifted, believes Heiberg, who says that he has been in contact with a political party. Now he hopes his case will be taken up in the Storting. – It is simply reprehensible. Heiberg believes that those who are ill and need the service the most will be burdened even more as a result of the fee increase. Ukom agrees with that. Calls for evaluation – No one has been able to show that the “no-show” fee works as it should, says director of Ukom, Pål Iden. Ukom is the National Commission of Inquiry for the Health and Care Service, an agency under the Ministry of Health and Care. Earlier this year, they published a report where they looked at the effect the “not met” fee has on the healthcare that patients receive. Director of Ukom, Pål Iden, believes there is no evidence that a non-attendance fee motivates people to show up for their class. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news He says that a large proportion of those who do not show up for doctor’s appointments are regulars. It is often patients with poor function who end up receiving more fees which over time build up to a larger debt. Something that can be burdensome for vulnerable patients, believes Iden. – I don’t think a fee will motivate these patients to manage to show up. – On the contrary, I think the fee could put patients at risk of refusing important health care. Have you ever received a ‘no show’ fee? Ukom is therefore calling for an evaluation of the entire scheme to see what it leads to in terms of positive and negative effects for the patients, treatment and management in the hospitals, Iden explains. – Is it wrong to increase the level of the fee before a thorough evaluation has been carried out? – It is a political prioritization and decision, I will not get lost in it. This is what it costs today: The size of the fee corresponds to the deductible (NOK 375) within mental health care and substance abuse treatment. Within somatic treatment, the fee is three times the amount of the deductible and is proposed to be increased to four times the amount from 1 January. Source: The Government. Problem that people don’t show up Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap) is state secretary in the Ministry of Health and Care. He defends the increase of the fee. – It is a huge challenge in our joint health service that so many people do not meet. It affects waiting times and burdens other patients. There are more than 370,000 consultations that were registered as not met in 2019, according to Bekeng. – This corresponds to just under 1,500 unused consultations daily. State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng (Ap). Photo: Esten Borgos / BORGOS FOTO AS – But why should you increase the fee when Ukom says that it goes so much beyond the patients? – The cases that Ukom has highlighted as particularly problematic are a number of drug and mental health patients who have had challenges with keeping their own finances in order. – It would be natural to have an evaluation of the scheme. And see if there are ways that the unfortunate side effects of the fee do not affect patients. The report came two weeks before the state budget was to be decided. It was therefore not taken into account in this round. He points out that the fee in mental health and the drug field has not been increased, and that it is low compared to the somatic field. – Most of the people who get the fee are people who should have attended their class in the first place, and who should have reported that they could not attend. The Labor Party has not set a date for when a possible evaluation will take place. But I am clear that it was right to increase the fee in this state budget. In its alternative budget, the Conservative Party proposes to increase the fee further to NOK 1,875.
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Increases “no-show” fee to 1,500 – news Nordland
