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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:03

Budget of Estonian Health Insurance Fund totals EUR 1.28 bln in 2018

BC, Tallinn, 22.01.2018.Print version
The supervisory board of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund on Friday endorsed the fund's budget for 2018 at 1.28 billion euros, 150 million euros more than in 2017, reports LETA/BNS.

The funding of illness prevention, family healthcare, dental care and medical care abroad increased significantly. An additional funding in the amount of 34 million euros in special medical care will help shorten waiting lists and conduct more operations in several fields, the Health Insurance Fund said.

 

Financing of specialist medical services will grow by more than a tenth, that is by 66 million euros. As a result of the healthcare reform, the 34 million euros added to the budget will improve the availability of children's medical care, while the funding of pediatrics and children's surgery will increase by 5.5 million euros in total. Up to 3,600 people will receive a new knee joint or hip joint, the waiting lists for their operations will decrease by up to 10 months.

 

Altogether 20 new medicines will appear on the list of medicines financed by the fund from the start of this year. An additional discount starting from 100 euros shall apply for people with large medical expenses. In total, the budget of medicines this year is 135 million euros. The medical equipment budget rose to 10 million euros. The Health Insurance Fund from this year reimburses 155 new medical appliances.

 

The budget of family healthcare will rise by 15 million euros. This year, the fund will significantly contribute to health centers, including midwifery, physiotherapy and home nursing services.

 

The budget of illness prevention will increase by 3 million euros. An important update is enabling breast cancer screening for women aged 68 and 69. A total of 1.6 million euros will be directed to the budget of health promotion, which this year will enable the launch of projects for the promotion of mental health, improving the oral health of adults and preventing serious illnesses.

 

The sum total set aside for dental services will increase by approximately a half compared to the previous year, totaling 52 million euros, including denture compensation. The budget for children's dental care will increase by approximately a fifth. Dental care compensation for adults in 2018 will rise from 30 euros to 40 euros.

 

Payments for temporary incapacity for work are to take 152 million euros this year.

 

Reimbursement of the cost of medical services received abroad is to take 11.7 million euros.






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