Hospital Referral Care

Yes. Limited hospital support, subject to availability of funds, is provided for specific medical conditions and services with the focus on lifesaving and emergency admissions including deliveries (childbirth).

To see the list of contracted hospitals per hospitalization category.

If you need emergency healthcare, please go to the nearest contracted hospital. Please note that you need to bring a valid ID document.

If you need an ambulance for transportation, please call the Lebanese Red Cross at 📞 140. Ambulance services are free of charge. 

Yes.

For deliveries: The support program will cover part of the hospital bill. You will need to pay the remaining amount of 170 USD for Normal Vaginal Delivery (NVD) and 300 USD for Cesarean delivery (C-section), if not a complicated case. For medically eligible high-risk pregnancy the coverage is 100% up to a specific limit.

For neonatal/pediatric intensive care: When the hospital bill is 2000 USD or less, the support program will cover 60% of the hospital bill and you will need to pay the remaining amount (up to 800 USD) according to the agreed hospital rates. When the bill goes above 2000 USD, you will pay the 800 USD patient share while the program will cover the rest of the bill up to a ceiling of 3000 USD.

For life and limb saving conditions: The support program will cover the full cost (100%) at the contracted hospitals. No payment is required from you.

Examples of life-limb saving emergencies include:

• Urgent heart conditions (heart attack)
  • Convulsions/unconsciousness
  • Urgent lung disease (severe pneumonia, severe asthma attack, severe COVID-19)
  • Severe diarrhea/vomiting with dehydration (especially in small children)
  • Severe trauma (open wounds and broken bones, severe bleeding, need for surgery)
  • Severe burns
  • Gastrointestinal diseases that require urgent surgical intervention such as appendicitis
  • Sepsis/septic shock (severe infection)
  • Urgent conditions that might lead to severe permanent disability
  • Acute episode of severe mental diseases
  • Giving birth (imminent delivery, pregnant woman in labor)
  • Care for new-born babies: premature new-born (not able to survive outside of incubator)

Examples of NICU lifesaving coverage include:

Newborns meeting any of the following criteria are eligible for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission:

• Gestational age between 25 completed and 35 completed weeks
  • Coverage duration based on gestational age
  • Note: Newborns 25–30 weeks should be referred to specialized services in selected hospitals
• Birth weight < 1.8 kg
• Respiratory distress, including need for oxygen or respiratory support
• Need for resuscitation beyond initial steps at birth, or:
  • Apgar score < 5 at 5 minutes, or
  • Apgar score ≤ 5 at 10 minutes
• Suspected sepsis
• Jaundice requiring:
  • Phototherapy, or
  • Exchange transfusion
  • Hypoglycemia requiring IV therapy
  • Any condition requiring IV hydration in a newborn
• Any other life-threatening neonatal condition as determined by the emergency or treating physician

Examples of PICU lifesaving care include:

Children between 46 days and 18 years of age are admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

• Acute life-threatening illness or injury requiring continuous cardiorespiratory monitoring
• Respiratory failure or severe respiratory distress, including:
  • Need for invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation
  • Escalating oxygen or respiratory support not manageable on pediatric ward
• Severe sepsis or septic shock requiring IV antibiotics and/or vasoactive support
• Shock of any etiology (septic, cardiogenic, hypovolemic, distributive)
• Acute neurological compromise, including:
  • Altered level of consciousness (GCS ≤ 8 or rapidly deteriorating)
  • Status epilepticus or recurrent seizures not responding to first-line therapy
  • Acute brain injury or suspected raised intracranial pressure
• Post-resuscitation care following cardiac or respiratory arrest
• Acute cardiac conditions, including:
  • Life-threatening arrhythmias
  • Acute heart failure or myocarditis
  • Post-cardiac intervention requiring intensive monitoring
• Severe metabolic or electrolyte disturbances requiring IV correction and close monitoring
• Severe trauma, including head injury, polytrauma, or thoraco-abdominal injuries
• Acute renal failure requiring dialysis or close fluid/electrolyte management
• Severe poisoning or intoxication requiring intensive monitoring or organ support
• Post-operative care following major surgery with risk of organ instability
• Any other immediately life-threatening condition as determined by the emergency or treating physician

This PICU medical eligibility mechanism covers acute, reversible, life-threatening conditions only.

The support program aims to support life and limb saving conditions including deliveries, neonatal and pediatric care.

Elective care and support for chronic conditions are not supported by the program.

Examples include:

• Experimental treatments

• Elective treatments (i.e. cosmetic or infertility treatment, treatment for congenital malformations, elective cardiac and neurological conditions)
• Treatments for chronic or long-term conditions (i.e. tumors/cancer (benign and malignant), chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer, hemodialysis for chronic kidney failure, liver disease, non-infectious nervous system conditions other than seizures)
• Treatment where there is no anticipated recovery despite treatment (i.e. end-stage cancer, very severe brain damage)Another party is responsible for paying the bill (workplace and road traffic accidents)
• Non-infectious conditions or disorders (i.e. non-infectious gastritis, enteritis, and colitis without perforation; thyroid, ovarian, and testicular disorders; ear, mastoid, and eye conditions except acute trauma or infection, musculoskeletal cases)

NICU examples include:

• Gestational age < 25 weeks or birth weight < 500 g
• 25 weeks gestation with additional poor prognostic factors, including:
  • Severe intrauterine growth restriction (extreme fetal growth failure < 3rd percentile with high risk of morbidity)
  • No antenatal steroid exposure
  • Severe infection or asphyxia likely to be futile
• Severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, with:
  • Apgar score < 5 at 5 minutes, and
  • No spontaneous respiration, and
  • Absent brainstem reflexes, and/or
  • Severe EEG abnormalities associated with poor prognosis (to be confirmed by neurologist)
  • Extensive injury on MRI, including:
    • Bilateral Grade IV IVH
    • Diffuse ischemic injury
• Severe congenital brain malformations, including:
  • Hydranencephaly
  • Severe lissencephaly with brainstem involvement
  • Major midline brain defects with absent cortical development
  • Anencephaly
• Inoperable complex congenital heart disease
• Bilateral renal agenesis (potter sequence)
• Severe skeletal dysplasia causing lethal pulmonary hypoplasia
• Lethal chromosomal anomalies, including:
  • Full trisomy 13
  • Full trisomy 18 with severe multisystem involvement
• Untreatable serious malformations, metabolic disorders, or genetic conditions
• Multisystem organ failure unresponsive to maximal therapy, including:
  • Severe sepsis with refractory shock
  • Persistent pulmonary hypertension unresponsive to therapy (including inhaled nitric oxide and HFOV)
  • Combined respiratory, cardiac, and renal failure with no reversibility
• Treatment where there is no anticipated recovery despite treatment

PICU Examples include:

• Chronic ventilator dependence without acute deterioration
• Long-term neurological or neuromuscular conditions without acute instability
• Chronic renal replacement therapy
• Step-down monitoring due to lack of ward or social placement
• Rehabilitation, convalescence, or palliative admissions not related to an acute PICU episode

• War related injuries: cases are referred to ACWA or WHO depends on the case
• Road traffic accidents/ car accidents
• If intensive care is deemed non-beneficial or medically futile, care should transition from curative to palliative, either at home or on a regular pediatric ward.

Highly specialized PICU care is restricted to designated referral hospitals with an active unit.

You may go to another contracted hospital near you.

For a normal delivery, (vaginal birth without complications), you will have to pay 170 USD (equivalent in LBP at the BDL USD rate). For a C-Section delivery, you will have to pay up to 300 USD (equivalent in LBP at the BDL USD rate). The rate will depend on which hospital you go to.