Romanian Pensioners Earning Less Than RON1,500 Should Not Contribute To Public Healthcare

The pensioners also asked the ministry to adopt certain measures aimed at improving medical assistance, for instance increasing access to health units, medical tests, filling in the list of compensated and free medicine, as well as making them cheaper.

Miron Niculescu, president of the National Council of Elderly People, said in a Thursday press conference that there should be a basic package of mandatory services, with pensioners contributing to medical assistance expenses, but those with a pensioner lower than RON1,500 should be exempt. Niculescu also asked that current legislation be amended, so that in the case of a person’s death, their spouse would receive 25% of the deceased’s pension per month.

In May 2009, there were 4,706,421 retired people in Romania, with an average pension of RON709.

The Romanian Government on Wednesday approved the introduction of health vouchers, setting a maximum yearly cap of RON600, Health Minister Ion Bazac said. The health vouchers will be free of charge for underprivileged categories.

According to ministry’s estimates, the personal contribution via health vouchers will raise to some RON350 per year for an "average patient." The calculation considers two hospitalizations for more than 24 hours, two hospitalizations for 24 hours or less. Six to eight visits to the family medic, four visits to a specialized medic, one house call, 10 lab tests, one radiological investigation and one high-performance investigation.

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