People may request material aid from the National Social Support Fund or its local branches to buy mandatory health insurance policies, under an amendment to a governmental decision, IPN reports.

Labor and Social Protection Minister Valentina Buliga said that in 2013 some 28% of the applications for material aid were in respect of medical costs. Some of the recipients of material aid are people suffering from incurable diseases who do not have access to insured health care because they are unemployed.

“Obviously, material aid payments, which averaged 645 lei last year, cannot fully cover the medical bills of these people. Therefore, we think it's more practical to offer them this material aid so they can acquire health insurance policies and enjoy permanent access to free medical services and compensated medicines”,said Valentina Buliga.

In 2014 a policy of mandatory health insurance comes with a price tag of 4,056 lei.