Saeima deputies today adopted in the final reading amendments to the law on healthcare financing, which provide for the postponement of the introduction of healthcare service baskets for another six months.
As noted in the annotation to the bill, the current system provides medical services to all residents regardless of insurance contributions, while the new system proposes a division into a basic and a full basket of services.
The annotation to the bill states that the separate system has not been implemented since the law was adopted, and its introduction has been regularly postponed. Changes are necessary to eliminate the risk of regulations coming into force on January 1, 2026, which may limit the availability of services.
As reported, the Ministry of Health plans to introduce a unified volume of state-funded healthcare services for all individuals who have declared their place of residence or work in Latvia, abandoning the principle of "two baskets" of healthcare services.
The principle linking the availability of medical services to the payment of social contributions received support in the 12th Saeima and has since been postponed several times.
