Starting April 1, appointment fees, or copays, for specialist medical care and emergency room (ER) visits will rise from €5 to €20. Pensioners, registered unemployed individuals, pregnant people and recipients of subsistence benefits will be exempt from this increase.
In cases of more serious health issues requiring hospitalization, no copay will be charged for an ER visit.
Lii Pärg, an expert in healthcare funding policy at the Ministry of Social Affairs, explained that copays are being increased due to the fact that copay rates have remained unchanged for more than a decade, even as both the strain on Estonia’s medical system and the costs of services have increased over time.
“These changes are based on OECD recommendations, which suggest that increasing appointment fees can help improve the efficiency of a healthcare system, provided that vulnerable population groups are protected,” Pärg said.
The lower, €5 copay will continue to apply to recipients of subsistence benefits, individuals with partial or no work ability, registered unemployed individuals, those over the age of 63, old-age and incapacity pensioners, children under the age of 19, pregnant people and mothers of children under the age of one.
More read: ERR.EE