The Saeima’s Social and Employment Affairs Committee has prepared amendments to the Healthcare Financing Law, proposing to postpone the introduction of the healthcare service basket for another six months.
The Saeima is scheduled to vote on the amendments on Thursday, the 27th of November.
According to the explanatory note of the draft law, the current system ensures access to healthcare services for all residents regardless of insurance contributions, while the new system would divide services into a “basic” and a “full” basket.
The explanatory note states that the dual system has not been implemented since the law was adopted, and its introduction has been regularly postponed. Amendments are needed to prevent the risk that, starting on the 1st of January, 2026, regulations could come into force that might restrict access to services.
As previously reported,
the Ministry of Health (MoH) plans to introduce a unified package of state-funded healthcare services
for all persons who have declared their place of residence in Latvia or work in Latvia—once again abandoning the idea of introducing two separate healthcare service “baskets.”
The two-basket principle consists of a minimum level of care — the “basic basket,” which is provided to Latvian citizens, non-citizens, foreigners with permanent residence permits, and others. The state mandatory health insurance — the “full basket” — is provided to those who pay mandatory state social insurance contributions under the general regime, as well as to socially vulnerable groups such as children, pensioners, the unemployed, and others. All others would have the option to join the state mandatory health insurance voluntarily by making voluntary contributions.
The MoH notes that this dual healthcare financing model has never been implemented since the adoption of the Healthcare Financing Law — everyone currently has the right to receive healthcare services under the mandatory state health insurance system, regardless of whether they have made insurance contributions.
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