Oleh Musiy: Introduction of Mandatory Health Insurance in Ukraine is a Premature Decision

Kyiv, 31 March 2014 – Speaking at a press briefing at the Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Minister of Health of Ukraine, Oleh Musiy pointed out three key components of creating a new health care system in the country.

“The first component is demonopolization of management in the sector by way of involving health care professionals (medical doctors, nurses, pharmaceutists). They need to be vested with the relevant management authority by the Ministry of Health and carry out such management through medical self-government bodies, i.e. the professional corporate organizations. They will be in charge of maintaining a register of medications, issuance of permits to practice medicine, certification of medical personnel, implementation of the Ukrainian Doctors’ Code of Ethics and overseeing adherence to the Code. This will provide the necessary balance between the government and healthcare professionals in managing the sector,” Mr. Musiy emphasized.

“The second component is the implementation of mandatory health insurance: it should be controlled by the government and financed through the relevant state fund, which in turn should be controlled by the Ministry of Health. However, in this time of deep economic downturn and taxation system crisis, this would be a premature decision as it would create an extra 7% burden on the payroll, which would amount to an additional UAH 50bn annually. Today, this figure constitutes Ukraine’s entire healthcare budget. That’s why by the end of the year at the latest, the parliament will adopt laws on health insurance and on granting health care institutions the status of not-for-profit organizations, and the transition period will last for 2-3 years before implementation,” the Minister said.

“The third component is the change of medical staff training system: we need to switch to the Bologna system of undergraduate education at medical universities, with the postgraduate training of specialists being within the competence of medical organizations,” added Oleh Musiy.

The Health Minister also gave an update on the progress of negotiations with the World Bank regarding the allocation of USD 450K to have the Ministry audited by an international audit firm.

Oleh Musiy is a Ukrainian medical doctor, public activist, organizer of the EuroMaidan medical service, Minister of Health of Ukraine at Arseniy Yatseniuk’s Cabinet since 27 February 2014.