Latvia’s healthcare sector currently needs an additional amount of EUR 150 million in funding, said Minister of Health Līga Meņģelsone in an interview to LTV.
Although Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš has ordered ministries to review their respective expenditures in order to look for additional funding for the healthcare and education sector, Meņģelsone believes it is too soon to discuss how much funding could be found this way.
The minister stressed additional funding will be provided to the Ministry of Health only once hospitals have been properly graded and other conditions have been met to ensure each euro paid by taxpayers is used efficiently.
If no money is found, the ministry will consider if services provided by regional hospitals could be provided by the largest hospitals instead.
As reported, hospitals have a shortage of EUR 78 million to afford operations for the remaining nine months, says chairman of Latvian Hospital Association Jevgēņijs Kalējs.
He reported that members of the association have discussed topic related to continued coverage of patient service costs, specifically how long hospitals will be able to continue providing state-paid medical assistance.
«We have calculated that between May 2022 and January 2023 the Ministry of Health has not paid hospitals a total of EUR 88 million for services provided to patients.
The payment method has not changed at all in the recent decade. The only exception is doctors’ pay. However, prices of energy resources, medicines and food products have changed. The price of eggs has doubled. This means the costs of various hospitals has increased, but the ministry has yet to compensate this cost rise,» explained Kalējs. He stressed the ministry knows this and agrees with estimates.
Kalējs believes the Ministry of Finance needs to prepare a report for the government in order to find a solution to this situation. If additional funding is not found, hospitals will be forced to stop providing state-paid services, which means patients will have to pay for services from their own pocket.
The Ministry of Health has developed and has submitted to various organisations assessment criteria for surgery, traumatology, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics. «These criteria are presented as a new reform, but it is already clear hospitals will not be able to meet them, because there lack workers and funding. We will continue providing opinions about new initiatives until mid-April,» said Kalējs.
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