The Romanian Health System – An auto-destructive mechanism:
Bucharest, 23rd October 2012: In the country that ranks first place in Europe concerning cervical cancer patients and 69th place in the world for the government’s spending on health per capita, a fundamental reform is the only thing that can create a sustainable health system.
A pressing problem – the change of the current national health system
The lack of investments, high level of bureaucracy, lack of tax facilities and the underdeveloped private system are the main issues behind the current situation of the national health system.
In Romania, thousands of people die every year from coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and lung or liver diseases. At the same time, the government’s spending for health is about 27 Euro/capita per month, compared to more than 230 Euro per month allocated by the German government. Furthermore, the projection of the old age dependency rate in Romania is more than bleak: in 2060, there would be only two persons aged 15 to 64 for every person aged 65+. This will have visible negative reflections on the national health budget.
At the same time, the existing legislative framework allowed tax benefits for medical subscriptions, which are sold under the same principle as insurance policies, but with the amendment of being deductible under the label of “labor medicine”.
“The existing structure allows company managers to hide their “Gold-Medical- Membership” under the “umbrella” of the labor medicine arrangements done in companies. This leads to loss of tax revenues that should be paid to the state.The fact that an employee must access only one medical provider chosen for him by the employer is simply not right. There should be tax benefits and free choice”, says Zahal Levy, President of MediHelp International.
Fundamental reform – the savior of the modern Romanian health
“Only with a close and objective look inside the existing structure, we will be able to see what really needs to be changed in the Romanian health system. There is no magical solution that can solve all the problems of the healthcare system, but there are gradual measures that should be taken in advance to prevent its collapse”, adds Zahal Levy, President of MediHelp International.
Amongst the measures the President of MediHelp sees fit for the reformation of the current health system are: decentralization of the healthcare system, funding (increase state expenditure, taxation, contributions, etc.), privatization and massive support to the investors in the private health insurance system and private medical care.
“Reforming is never easy, but working and repairing the situation step by step, with competent people is the only thing the government needs to do at this moment. For certain, we live in hard times, so we need as much protection as possible. We need to take international examples, localize and adapt them to the national market and in this manner obtain a system that is both functional and profitable for each and every one of the involved parties: citizens, government or private providers”, concludes Mr. Levy.
