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17-12-2021

At the health insurance fund conference - about the challenges, health, budget against the background of the pandemic

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The Panevėžys territorial health insurance fund (THIF) organised a traditional annual conference for the thirteenth time, which this year is dedicated not only to the 25th anniversary of the institution, but also to the 25th anniversary of all restored THIFs. The conference was held remotely.

There was no shortage of generalizations and interesting insights at the event. In terms of the number of participants, the conference surpassed all the previous ones. It was joined by about 400 participants: Antanas Matulas, Chairman of the Seimas Health Affairs Committee, representatives of the Ministry of Health (MH), the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and its Director Gintaras Kacevičius, Laimutis Paškevičius, President of the Lithuanian Association of Private Health Care Institutions, other representatives, heads and other representatives of the country's medical institutions, representatives of municipalities, public health offices, patient organizations and other institutions, THIF staff.

Welcoming the participants, Director of Panevėžys THIF Jonas Narbutas informed that the conference would review what has been done during the ending year, what difficulties have been encountered, what the pandemic has taught us, what was expected from medical institutions, and what guidelines are being drawn for next year. 

Jolanta Sinkevič, a representative of the Ministry, conveyed the speech of the Minister of Health. It is gratifying that the conference of the health insurance funds has become a place where good experience, innovations and current events are shared every year.

Mr. Matulas emphasized that this year was a huge challenge for the health system and doctors. It has never been such a severe one before. The member of the Seimas thanked all the employees of the medical institutions, not only the doctors who helped to manage the pandemic. He noted the importance of the activities of the health insurance funds in this situation. The chairman of the Health Affairs Committee alluded to the planned restructuring of the structure of health care institutions, the planned establishment of a university hospital in Klaipėda region and other future plans.

Mr. Kacevičius shared insights into what the coming year 2022 promises in the field of health care, what innovations await. It was noted that the budget of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF) is being collected by exceeding this year’s plan by EUR 10 million, settlements with medical institutions are made earlier than the deadline. The participants of the conference were told about the success of medical institutions in providing services, the extent to which the CHIF budget expenditures are expected to increase next year, what new health care services are planned to be reimbursed, what are the expected changes in the payment for services, reimbursement of medical devices and medicines. It was reported that from next year, contracts would be concluded between pharmacies and operators with only one THIF and for 3 years.

Mr. Paškevičius, who presented the contribution of private medicine to the health system, informed about the importance of this medicine in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, its potential in the context of health care in Lithuania and the European Union, differences in positions and salaries in private and public medical institutions, etc. It was highlighted that private institutions played a significant role in the admission of non-coronavirus patients. In 2020, there were more than 8 million. patient visits to private GPs, consultant doctors and dentists in Lithuania.

Darius Dicevičius, a chief specialist of the Šiauliai THIF Control Division, who introduced the mental health challenges against the background of the coronavirus pandemic, revealed the data of various studies, talked about the challenges and problems in providing mental health care services. According to research, one of the biggest fears of healthcare and pharmacy professionals involved in the pandemic was to infect their loved ones or get infected themselves, but only a small proportion sought professional help for mental health. Mr. Dicevičius shared the recommendations of the World Health Organization on how to strengthen one’s mental health.

Head of the Finance and Accounting Division of Panevėžys THIF, chief- accountant Visvaldas Vilkas presented the compensation from the CHIF for the increase in the remuneration of employees of medical institutions due to COVID-19 - changes in legal acts, the number and amounts of institutions and employees who received compensation, and the results of the analysis of funds used. It was informed that for the period from the beginning of the first quarantine to the end of the second (March 2020 – June 2021), compensations totalling EUR 15 million for increasing the remuneration due to work with patients with COVID-19 were paid from the CHIF to the medical institutions of Panevėžys and Utena counties. This increase in remuneration was received by 2.2 thousand employees per month on average. The remuneration per one such employee increased by EUR 567 on average. Within 3 months after the end of quarantine, almost EUR 1 million was still disbursed as additional holiday compensations and remuneration increase compensations. About EUR 3.1 million was additionally paid to medical institutions from the state budget for July-October 2021. 

Vilma Stasiulienė, Deputy Director of Klaipėda THIF, acting Director on a temporary basis, spoke in shocking numbers about diabetes and its management in Lithuania and in the world. It was noted that in Lithuania, one in 18 adults has type I or II diabetes. The incidence of this disease, as well as the incidence of obesity over 20 years has increased several times. If the situation does not change, by 2030 the number of people with diabetes will be equal to the population of Klaipėda. The reporter expressed her concern about the spread of type II diabetes and shared statistics, about the worst consequences of the disease and how to control it.

Rasa Valinskaitė-Barščevičienė, Head of the Population Service Division of Kaunas THIF, spoke about the availability of dental prosthetic services in Lithuania and the changes that have taken place in this field. It is gratifying that the changes are really good, as there are no more queues for dental prosthetics with CHIF funds, the reimbursable amounts are increasing, and the functions performed by the THIF in this area have been optimized.

Conference participants were interested in the share of CHIF funding of private treatment facilities, and whether they really contributed as much to the management of the pandemic, what their role is in the reform planned by the MoH. There was also interest in the impact of the pandemic on diabetes. It was asked what proportion of the total costs incurred by patients of prosthetic dentistry is covered by CHIF compensation, whether dentists in private medical institutions can admit patients to the dental prosthesis queue, etc.

The conference was ended with the beautiful wishes of the Chief Santa Klaus of Lithuania, and the speakers should soon receive a sign of gratitude from the organisers - traditional glass souvenirs created by Panevėžys artist Remigijus Kriukas.

Information of the Panevėžys Territorial Health Insurance Fund 

The NHIF invites you:

Your questions are welcome by email [email protected] or phone: local (8 5) 232 2222, international +370 5 232 2222.

Last updated: 17-01-2022

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