The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (the Chamber) is concerned about the risks of interruption and lack of sustainability of the implementation of the Medical Guarantees Program in 2021.
During the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Draft Resolution “On the Procedure of Implementation of the Program of Medical Guarantees” for the first quarter of 2021 (the Draft Resolution), which is required for extension of contracts with hospitals and pharmacies, wasn’t submitted for consideration due to the particular amendments required.
Without reaching agreement and approval of key provisions of the Draft Resolution, starting from January 1, 2021, due to the absence of valid contracts, hospitals will not be able to provide medical services to patients, including some COVID-19 managing measures, pharmacies will not provide medicines for people with the chronic diseases within the Program “Accessible Medicines”.
Chamber member companies call the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MoH), the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), the Parliamentary Committee on Public Health, Medical Assistance and Medical Insurance to develop balanced, transparent, effective solutions with a focus on continuous medical help to patients and adequate conditions for all stakeholders adhering to the following key priorities:
- Reconsideration of some packages of the Medical Guarantees Program in 2021 with increasing capitation rates for hospitals may allow them to increase payments for medical personnel, which is one of the key priorities for all stakeholders within medical personnel salary, specifically of the MoH policy.
- Acceleration of prolongation of contracts with hospitals and pharmacies must be supported by specific technical and operational capacity support for NHSU. Or the terms of managing of contracts have to be reconsidered appropriately.
- Decisions on the managing transition period, which starts at the beginning of each calendar year due to the features of Budget Code regulation, should be developed for continuous sustainable provision of medical help and treatment for all patients at any time.
Taking into account the epidemiological situation in Ukraine and the upcoming holiday season, continuous, reliable, and efficient cooperation of all mentioned stakeholders is crucially important to secure the provision of medical services and treatment for patients with chronic and acute diseases. We call for comprehensive dialogue between the key stakeholders to develop prompt, leveraging, time-sensitive, and patient-oriented decisions.
