Health insurance funds will reimburse a new highly expensive test
The Council of Compulsory Health Insurance (CHI) has approved the reimbursement of positron emission tomography (PET/CT) examinations using radioactive gallium by the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (CHIF). The new test will allow doctors to diagnose some forms of cancer more effectively and to select the most appropriate treatment for the patient.
According to European health experts, patients with neuroendocrine tumours should have a PET/CT scan using radioactive gallium to identify and localise the primary tumour and metastases. This test allows a much more accurate determination of the extent of the disease in patients with neuroendocrine tumours and allows a decision to be made on whether or not to apply surgical treatment.
The basic cost of a PET/CT scan using radioactive gallium is estimated by the specialists of the State Patients' Fund under the Ministry of Health at an impressive amount of close to EUR 2,000. It is one of the most expensive tests reimbursed by the CHIF in Lithuania.
The new service reimbursed by the health insurance funds will only be available in nuclear medicine departments where positron emission tomography scans are performed. There are two such departments in Lithuania: the Santaros Clinics of Vilnius University Hospital and the Kaunas Clinics of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Hospital. These tests require separate preparation, and the institutions plan to start providing the services early next year.
According to preliminary data from the health insurance funds, about 300 patients a year may need a PET/CT scan using radioactive gallium. In this case, the annual need for CHIF funds to pay for these services would amount to almost EUR 590,000.
Following the signing of orders by the Minister of Health, the new test will be added to the list of expensive tests and procedures covered by the CHIF.
Health insurance funds are continuously improving access to healthcare for patients by reimbursement by adding new, modern and expensive tests that are essential for patients. This year, the ProsignaTM genetic test for molecular markers of breast cancer, which provides a long-term prognosis of the risk of cancer recurrence and the appropriate treatment, was reimbursed by the CHIF. This year also saw the inclusion of a more accurate test for paediatric tuberculosis - the assessment of the response of blood lymphocytes to stimulation with Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens, based on the release of gamma interferon.
(Irmantas Gelūnas / BNS pict.)
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Last updated: 25-08-2022
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