Health Ministry seeks major budget increase to cover hospital and ambulance costs through 2026

The Ministry of Health together with the National Health Insurance House submitted a proposal to raise the health budget by several billion lei to sustain the system until the end of 2026. Funds would be directed to hospitals, emergency reception units, SMURD, national health programmes and the unified health insurance fund, which requires a large share to balance its accounts and cover medical-leave indemnities. The ambulance sector faces a payroll shortfall for November and December, leaving only half of the needed amount available, and the ministry warns that without extra financing the salary pool could be exhausted before year-end.

In addition, the ministry seeks to unblock sums retained under a 10% rule and asks for over one billion lei to cover personnel, medicines, supplies and the operation of emergency structures, including heliports. To mitigate the overall cost, it proposes cutting commitment credits by billions of lei and reducing budget credits for projects funded by external sources or repayable programmes.