The National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU) reported that since the beginning of 2021, the country’s medical institutions may be left without payments under the medical guarantees program due to a lack of money for its financing, the agency “Ukrainian News” reports.
According to the ministry, the Ministry of Health has not sent the country to government draft regulation on financing the program in 2021. Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers cannot consider the document, and money may stop flowing to medical institutions as early as January 1. “The NHSU has no legal basis to pay for medical services that will be provided by institutions from January 1, 2021,” the message says.
According to the service, in this situation, thousands of patients across the country may lose their right to free medical care, including patients with COVID-19. In addition, Ukrainian doctors and nurses will no longer receive salaries, and the program to provide residents with subsidized medicines will be under threat.
It is noted that now in the draft Ukrainian budget for 2021, about 123.5 billion hryvnias are allocated for payments under the program, while the Ministry of Health requests more than 225 billion hryvnias for it.
Medical reform took place in Ukraine in spring 2020. On April 1, a program of medical guarantees was launched in the country – a list of medical services that the state guarantees to a patient. It includes more than 1600 institutions, they receive funds for the treatment of patients through the National Health Service.
Earlier, Minister of Health of Ukraine Maxim Stepanov said that the health care system in the country is absolutely undeveloped, and citizens receive medical care despite the state. He concluded that there are still “centers of medical care” in the republic, but they are based solely on the initiative of the medical staff.