A new fee schedule for doctors for all medical procedures has been approved, providing for the first increase since 2008, Dr Ziad Al-Zoubi, head of the Jordan Medical Association (JMA), has confirmed.
Under an agreement reached following difficult negotiations with insurance companies, an increase of 20% will be implemented each year over three years, reported Al Ghad. The first tranche of the fee hike took effect on 13 June 2024 when the new fee schedule was published in the Official Gazette. The other tranches will take place on 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2026.
The fee agreement takes into account economic conditions and was reached under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Central Bank.
The new fee schedule also sets out rates for new medical procedures that were not in the 2008 regulations. It covers fees for general practitioners and medical specialists.
Doctors in Jordan have been fighting for years for fee increases which were opposed by insurance companies. The dispute between the JMA and insurers erupted because of the reluctance of the latter to discuss increases in doctors’ fees proposed for 2021 by the JMA. Doctors had been working based on a 2008-approved fee schedule despite evolving medical procedures and increased costs over the years.
In September 2023, the JMA said that private-sector doctors would stop treating patients with medical insurance and accept only cash payments. The boycott was set to begin on 2 September. However, the doctors suspended the boycott to wait for the completion of a review of their pay by a committee formed headed by the Ministry of Health. That review has led to the agreement on the new fee scale for doctors.
The number of private-sector doctors in Jordan is about 5,000 working in private clinics and hospitals.