The revenues and spending of the compulsory health insurance funds for 2010 will be 3.35 billion lei, without deficit, a decrease of 117 million lei or 3.4% compared with 2009. At the same time, the expenditure for compensated medications next year will be increased by 40%, as stipulated in the draft compulsory health insurance funds law approved by the Government, Info-Prim Neo reports. Minister of Health Vladimir Hotineanu said revenues and spending have been decreased following the decline in the average salary in economy and the remuneration fund. He stressed that the volume of medical services that will be provided in 2010 to insured persons in accordance with the common medical assistance program was planned taking into account the share of different types of services and the real number of patients. The population’s access to emergency pre-hospital and primary medical assistance will be ensured by redistributing the budgetary allocations from the health insurance funds and optimizing the common program. In this connection, the spending for compensated drugs will be raised by 40% by including the pharmaceutical products used for ambulatory or hospital treatment and the drugs used to treat diseases with serious impact on public health. Gradually, there will be implemented co-payments in the municipal and tertiary hospitals by giving the patients the right to choose between them. This will contribute to improved sub-financing and will prevent the excessive number of requests for hospital services. The draft compulsory health insurance funds law for 2010 defines the method of financing the treatment of diseases with serious impact on public health for insured persons. Such diseases include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, psychoses, alcoholism and drug addiction, confirmed oncologic and hematologic diseases, infectious diseases.