Another "medical initiative" has appeared on the portal manabalss.lv.
A recent survey showed that Latvians are "held back" from visiting doctors by long queues and the high cost of medical services. While it is possible to see a family doctor or a specialist within the quotas (i.e., at the state's expense), adult dentistry is a completely paid service. For pensioners with low incomes, tooth extraction and prosthetics are often inaccessible due to high costs. This leads to serious health problems, inadequate nutrition, and social alienation. Dentistry is not a luxury, but a necessary service for maintaining quality of life. Yesterday, a petition was launched on the portal manabalss.lv to initiate government subsidies for pensioners, as well as for low-income individuals, for minimal dental care amounting to 150 euros per year.
The author of the initiative, Alisa Volkova, calls for the introduction of a "paid basket of dental services for pensioners and low-income individuals to ensure basic needs — a life without pain and the ability to consume a full diet."
The service can be obtained at any dental institution (both public and private) that has a contract with the National Health Service (NHS) for the implementation of this program, or in private clinics, paying for services on-site during the visit, and then submitting the receipt to the NHS for reimbursement.
The accumulation principle (optional but recommended): if a person does not use the entire amount within one year, it can be carried over to the next year (for example, to save for more complex prosthetics), but without exceeding the total limit of 300 euros over a two-year period.
It is worth noting that in order for the initiative to be submitted to the Saeima and considered there, it is necessary to collect at least 10,000 signatures from eligible voters in Latvia. Signing the initiative using an electronic signature or through online banking authorization takes just a few minutes.
It should be noted that this is far from the first "medical initiative" - recently, more than 10,000 signatures were collected calling for the provision of special analyzers for patients with type 1 diabetes.
