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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 11:38

Government committee in Latvia endorses healthcare funding bill

BC, Riga, 26.09.2017.Print version
The Cabinet of Ministers committee in Latvia on September 25th endorsed draft legislation that would provide a new regulation for the funding of the health sector, informs LETA.

The draft regulation provides for dividing health services in two baskets – the minimum and the full services basket.


Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Greens/Farmers) told journalists following the meeting that some correction to the draft legislation will be made before tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting, for instance, concrete sums will be removed from the bill.

 

“It is not rational to write specific sums in the bill, instead, they have to be indicated in the annotation to the bill. If the goal is to raise healthcare funding to 4% of GDP, it is necessary to bear in mind that GDP forecasts are updated twice a year, so such law [that includes concrete sums by which health funding will be increased] can quickly become outdated,” the finance minister explained.

 

According to the draft legislation, which has been drawn up and submitted by the Health Ministry, the minimum health services basket, available to all residents of Latvia regardless of the amount of their social security contributions, will include emergency and obstetrical care, the family physician’s services and government-funded medications, as well as treatment of illnesses posing threat to public health, including mental illnesses and tuberculosis, as well as medications for treating these ailments.


To receive the full basket of healthcare services, which includes all the other government-funded healthcare services, Latvia’s residents will need state mandatory health insurance.

 

Under the draft law, state mandatory health insurance will be provided to those persons that have been making mandatory social security contributions in line with the law on state social insurance. As of next year, social security contributions for persons that do not pay taxes will be set at 1% of the minimum monthly wage. In 2019, these contributions will grow to 3% and in 2020 to 5% of the minimum wage.

 

Since next year the minimum wage will rise to EUR 430, the monthly contribution will be EUR 4.3 in 2018. In two years’ time, it will grow to EUR 21.5 unless the minimum wage is also increase.






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