In and out: User fees and other unfortunate events during hospital admission and discharge

Abstract

In various countries it has been reported that patients who receive hospital care, for example assisted birth, are detained inside the health facility until they pay their bills. The practice of hospital detention, whose magnitude is unknown, has been criticized as anti-humanitarian by UNICEF and human rights organizations. However, according to the author, leaving the hospital with a confirmed diagnosis and the recommended treatment can prove more difficult than simply being detained, particularly when health budgets are allocated with disregard for the social conditions in which people live, as in Latin America and elsewhere.