Health Ministry approves 'road map' for introduction of medical insurance in Ukraine
By order of August 25, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine approved a "road map" for the introduction of medical insurance, the agency's website reported on Monday.
According to the report, it is proposed to add a system of additional medical insurance to the current system of financing medicine in Ukraine at the expense of the national budget, as a potential source of financial resources for the healthcare sector. This is explained by the fact that at present, due to the negative economic consequences of large-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the existing financial resources are not enough to meet the needs of citizens in a sufficient volume and quality of medical services.
The Ministry of Health considers the main advantages of additional health insurance to be, in particular, increased access to additional services, improved quality of treatment not covered by the medical guarantees program, faster access to specialist doctors, coverage of expensive medicines and treatments, or access to additional medical services.
Supplementary health insurance is expected to help reduce the burden on the public health budget, increase the choice of health care providers, insurers and insurance packages that promote competition in the insurance market and improve the quality of services provided by insurers, as well as attract private capital that can support the development and modernization of health facilities and infrastructure.
According to the order, important steps to increase the role of additional health insurance should be: a clear definition of medical services that are not covered by the medical guarantees program, as well as other cases in which medical services can be provided to patients at the expense of individuals and legal entities. To this end, the Ministry of Health, together with the expert community, will develop the necessary legal acts to determine the cases in which additional medical insurance can complement, and not duplicate, the medical guarantees program.
In addition, the development of pharmaceutical insurance is also envisaged, which involves reimbursement of expenses for the purchase of medicines and/or medical devices. This type of insurance is designed to protect patients from high drug costs, especially in cases where expensive or long-term treatment is needed outside of the government's guarantees program.