As early as this summer, medical fees for treatment of seven diseases will be fixed and covered by the national health insurance scheme, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday.

The seven treatments are cataract surgery, hemorrhoids treatment, tonsil removal, caesarian section, hysterectomy, appendectomy and herniotomy. The program will be applied to local clinics and small hospitals from as early as July next year and extended to general hospitals or top-tier teaching hospitals by July 2013.

Regardless of the severity of the symptoms and the level of treatment, the patients will have to pay the prefixed fees, the Ministry said. The program will lower patients’ medical fees as doctors will be less likely to carry out unnecessary treatments, the ministry said.

The precise fixed fees will be determined based on current average medical fees for such treatments, calculated from figures filed by doctors.