Patients without policy are first cured and then asked to pay, minister

The persons who are injured or get sick in the street are taken to the hospital by ambulances if they need medical care, even if they don’t have a health insurance policy or identification papers on them. Afterward, if it’s established that the patient is not medically insured, they are asked to pay the cost of drugs and services provided to them in the medical institution. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Minister of Health Andrei Usatii said that in case of accidents or other emergencies, the patients without medical insurance are first cured and are asked to pay for the medical services when they feel better. If they refuse or are unable to pay, the medical institution has to cover the costs from its budget and cannot ask for allocations from the obligatory health insurance fund. Liviu Vovc, first vice director of the National Scientific-Practical Center of Emergency Medicine, said that there were a number of cases when persons in a critical condition were brought to the hospital without health insurance policy. However, the hospital has never been in litigation with patients who couldn’t or didn’t want afterward to pay for the medical services. In Chisinau, the municipal administration bought 100 insurance policies for homeless persons who are taken to the Emergency Hospital. The insurance policy this year costs 2,982 lei. In 2013, it will grow dearer by 336 lei, to 3,318 lei. The insurance premium for officially employed persons is calculated in percentage points in relation to the salary and other recompenses remains at the level of 7%, 3.5% of which is paid by the employee and 3.5% by the employer.