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The government coalition parties agreed earlier that the social insurance contributions will be raised by 1 percentage point – 0.5% for contributions paid by employers, and 0.5 for employees. So in the future, mandatory social insurance contributions will amount to 35.09% – 24.09% paid by employer, and 11% paid by employee.

Increase of the mandatory social insurance contributions will ensure additional EUR 84.6 million to the health care sector next year, EUR 98.1 million in 2019, and EUR 103.9 million in 2020.

The amendments also provide that employees for which the general mandatory social insurance contribution is made, will be subjects to health insurance and will have the right to receive government-funded health care services.

The decision has not been made about other socially insured people who pay labor taxes in a special regime and about those for whom social insurance contributions are not made due to objective reasons, including pensioners, children and other groups.

Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis on July 5 gave a task to Health Minister Anda Caksa in cooperation with the Finance Ministry, the Welfare Ministry and other responsible institutions, social partners and NGOs to prepare a bill on health care financing and submit it to the Cabinet of Ministers by August 30.

The Cabinet of Ministers today are revising the remaining bills related to tax reform – amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, the Law on Solidarity Tax, the Law on Excise Tax, the Law on State Social Insurance, the Law on Corporate Income Tax, and Micro Enterprise Tax Law.

After the government adopts the amendments, they will be sent to Saeima who might adopt the bills in the second reading on July 21.