Today, February 7, the government approved the bill “On the state budget for 2023 and the budget framework for 2023, 2024 and 2025”, where the planned funding for the health sector in 2023 is 1.6 billion euros. This year, 85.8 million euros are planned for priority measures, i.e. for the additional sector. The draft law on state budget expenditures and distribution will still have to be approved by the Saeima. Of the 1.6 billion euros planned for the health sector in 2023 in the state budget draft, 1.35 billion euros are earmarked for the payment of outpatient and inpatient health care services (for the practice work of family doctors, laboratory examinations, the payment of consultations and diagnostic examinations provided by medical specialists, emergency medical assistance and planned medical assistance in hospitals for provision, payment of reimbursable medicines, etc.). 124 million euros are planned for specialized health care: emergency medical assistance, provision of blood and blood components, forensic medical expertise and implementation of anti-doping policy. 59 million euros are planned for higher medical education, 15 million euros for the administration of health care funding and the operation of the Medical Risk Fund. 11.3 million euros are planned for the supervision of disease prevention, health promotion and treatment services. 32.3 million euros are planned for the implementation of projects and measures of European structural funds, 5.6 million euros for industry management. With the additional 85.8 million euros planned for the health care sector in 2023, it will be possible to partially solve the problems of the sector and improve the availability of health care services for citizens. Funding will be directed to the implementation of the following priorities: Oncology The field of oncology has been identified as one of the priorities of the health field, where systemic changes should be made. The plan for the improvement of health care services in the field of oncology for 2022 – 2024* approved by the Cabinet of Ministers last year envisages the reduction of risk factors for the spread of cancer, the improvement of prevention, as well as the availability of various types of treatment and the care of cancer patients. An additional 30 million euros are planned to be allocated this year for the improvement of healthcare in the field of oncology. Funding will be directed both to the payment of reimbursed drugs for oncology patients and to improving access to diagnostics and treatment, including the indexation of healthcare service tariffs.
Children
It is planned to allocate an additional 5 million euros to improve access to health care services for children. This will allow payment of cochlear implants and glucose monitoring systems for children with hearing impairment and diabetes, as well as payment of compensable drugs for cystic fibrosis patients.
Remuneration
In order to ensure good public health indicators, not only modern technologies, effective medicines and advanced treatment methods are important, but the personnel of the health care sector play an irreplaceable role. Therefore, additional funding will also be directed to the increase in the wages of medical personnel. This will allow for an increase in the wages of doctors, nurses, nursing assistants and other medical personnel, with primary care for those with lower wages. It is planned that the salary of doctors + 6.11%; for nurses + 10.14% and for nursing assistants + 16.11%. An additional 15 million euros is expected to be directed to improving the availability of health care services, both in the field of diagnostics and treatment. Also, 5.4 million euros are expected to be directed to improving the availability of personnel in the Emergency Medical Service. The available funding will make it possible to increase the number of physician assistants trained in medical colleges, as well as to direct additional funding to pay the salaries of EMS employees. Taking into account the insufficient number of nurses in the country, an additional 2.8 million euros is expected to be directed to the introduction of the general care nursing profession, including promoting the employment of nurses in the profession. This will make it possible to ensure the nursing education program for a larger number of students in universities, in the long term ensuring the entry of additional nurses into medical institutions, thus improving the quality of health care services.
