The Health Insurance Fund of the Republika Srpska has planned KM 566.68 million for financing health care in 2020, which is about 11.7 million more than the end of the year, and the most money, about 266 million, will be allocated to hospitals.
This was shown by the financial plan of the Health Insurance Fund for the next year, which was also adopted by the Government of Srpska, according to which total revenues with receipts are planned in the amount of KM 755.620 million and are by 7.53% higher than the financial plan from this year.
More than 80 percent of the total budget of the fund will be earmarked for health care financing, with the bulk of those funds going to hospitals, or about KM 10.5 million more than this year’s plan. In addition, a higher amount is also planned for prescription drugs, at 3.13 percent.
– The fund’s commitment is to preserve the health system, inter alia by introducing and financing new medicines and providing financial support to hospitals, especially when it comes to introducing new treatment procedures. Over the past three years, more funds have been allocated for hospital healthcare – the Fund explained.
The fund, they stressed, has in the past three years reduced the prices of certain health services, such as hemodialysis, which has resulted in lower costs for this type of health care.
– In 2020, about 34.1 million KM is planned for this type of health care, which is 3.32 percent less than the plan from this year – they said in the fund.
Siniša Maksimović, acting director of Bijeljina Hospital Sveti Vračevi, said that more money would mean a lot for this health care facility next year.
– All hospitals in Srpska have similar problems, any money is welcome – Maksimović said.
The news that more money will be earmarked for hospital health care next year also pleased the director of the Zvornik hospital, Ivan Popović, who explains that hospitals receive money from the fund based on the number of surgeries and examinations.
– I am pleased that the fund has recognized that hospitals carry a heavy burden of healthcare. As the cost of health care work went up, it was realistic to expect that there would be an increase in contracts for both hospitals and health centers – Popović said.
The financial plan for 2020 is based, according to the Health Fund, on the assessment of the funds needed for the health system to function, as well as the expected costs.
– Initiatives for additional sources of funding have not yet come to fruition, so the health system remains the sole source of health insurance contributions. For this reason, we again appeal to the public to support us in the fight to secure additional funds – they said in the fund. They added that in the countries of the region, as well as in the EU, supplementary sources account for about 20 percent of the total income of compulsory health insurance, and the most represented source is precisely the additional taxation of products harmful to health.
TST
