The patients will be able to easier get medical devices paid with money from the mandatory health insurance funds, such as tests, lancets for measuring blood sugar level, exoprostheses after the extirpation of the mammary gland and colostomy bags, IPN reports.
The medical devices will be prescribed by the family doctor and the patient will be able to benefit from the wanted medical device as at least one device name will be fully covered by health insurance.
Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco told a news conference that the medical devices are now bought in a centralized way, in many cases with one business entity winning the tender contest for many years or competing in this alone. The patients are this way deprived of the right to choose themselves. When the new provisions are adopted, the patients will be able to choose the necessary model, size and quantity of covered devices. The medical devices will be issued by prescription in any drugstore contracted by the National Health Insurance Company.
There was also approved a draft decision concerning prescription and issuing of covered medicines and medical devices for ambulatory treatment to persons registered with the family doctor. According to the minister, beneficiaries and pharmaceutical service providers requested to deal with the ambiguous norms regarding the issuing of the quantity of covered drug by prescription and according to the primary packing of the medicine, without this being damaged.
The covered medical devices will most probably become available to patients starting with April.
