Having the luxury of a private room in Wallonia generally costs between 50 and 150% more than in Flanders. In Brussels, the cost of a private room can sometimes reach 400% of the cost of a joint room in the same hospital, which represents 300% more than in most Flanders hospitals, according to a report by the Christian Mutuality (MC) published in the Echo on Tuesday. MC estimates that extra fees came to € 411.5 million in 2013 and bases its estimation on hospital admission figures last year. "Why is it that, on the French side of the border, where purchasing power is lower, patients should have to pay more?" she asked.
Jacques de Toeuf, vice president of Absym (the Belgian Association of Medical Unions), justifies this high figure by the number of doctors working in hospitals, higher in the south than in the north of the country. "They all have to be paid," he said, adding that, "Hospitals have to generate income."
(Source: Belga)
