Q&A

UNHCR and humanitarian organizations are continuously working to enhance health services and assistance to refugees. However, the UNHCR health assistance support to refugees in hospital as below:

A. Co-payment of hospital bills:
UNHCR’s co-payment is designed so that refugees do not end up with very high hospital bill

• For very high bills: The maximum contribution that a refugee has to pay is 800 USD (or equivalent in LBP) for a single admission. UNHCR will pay the remaining amount up to the ceiling of support, which ranges from 5,000 to 15,000 USD depending on the medical case.
• For lower bills: The refugee’s contribution will vary depending on the total bill. The smaller the bill the larger part the refugee has to pay. Bills below 100 USD has to be paid fully by the refugee.

The below list shows some examples of what refugees will have to pay depending on the hospital bill:

In concrete, the UNHCR contribution will depend on the cost of the total hospital bill, whether high or low bill, such as:

- If 100 USD and less refugee need to pay for the total bill;
- If 101 USD to 2,900 USD refugee has to pay 100 USD and 25% of the remaining amount of the total bill and UNHCR pays for 75% of the amount above 100 USD;
- If 2,900 USD and above refugee pays only 800 USD irrespective of the total bill and UNHCR pays the rest up to the ceiling 5,000 to 15,000 USD depending on the medical case.

In all cases, call NEXtCARE or approach their delegates in the hospital to know about your contribution.

B. Requirement for pregnant women to approach UNHCR prior to birth delivery:

If you are pregnant you need to make an appointment at the closest UNHCR Reception Centre as soon as possible if:

• You are known to UNHCR but have an expired UNHCR registration certificate (UN paper),
• You are known to UNHCR but have had no contact with UNHCR and its partners for the past 6 months or,
• You have never approached UNHCR

If you do not make an appointment with UNHCR during your pregnancy, UNHCR will be unable to provide support for the cost of delivery once in hospital.

On the day of your appointment with UNHCR, bring your Pregnancy Card (see Q25) or a medical report indicating your status

If you are pregnant and already known to UNHCR and you have a valid UN paper or are in possession of a token, you can go directly to the hospital and call NEXtCARE and UNHCR will provide support.

Make sure to contact UNHCR ahead of time before delivery to receive support for your hospital bill, even if you lost contact with UNHCR in the past 6 months.

To know which hospitals you should go to, you can call NEXtCARE at 01504020 (24 hours 7/7 days). You can also approach UNHCR or any Community Development Centre or find them online:

English: http://www.refugees-lebanon.org/en/d/307

Arabic: http://www.refugees-lebanon.org/ar/d/307

You should approach NEXtCARE delegate in the hospital to know about your share to pay the hospital bill and the ceiling of UNHCR assistance.

Ask NEXtCARE delegate always to inform you before reaching the ceiling of UNHCR support.

Some hospital services are not covered by UNHCR and this amount might be charged on the refugee. Always ask the hospital if the service will be covered by the UNHCR programme.

In such cases you/ your family are given the possibility to call UNHCR for an appointment while being admitted to the hospital, even if you were not previously known by UNHCR.