Ukrainian doctors and nurses are owed 1.5 billion hryvnia (USD 53 million) in wages by the government, announced Ulyana Suprun, the administrator currently fulfilling responsibilities of the head of the Ministry of Health Services on the temporary basis.
Ukrainian government owes 1.5 billion hryvnia to doctors and nurses
Suprun stated that the government intends to cover 90% of the debt before the end of this year, while the remaining 10% should be covered by the local authorities. Delayed wages in Ukraine are a typical thing, including the government sector.
The majority of health services in Ukraine are provided by the government. The private sector of medical services is in its infancy.
With the aging population, Ukraine faces the need to build more hospitals and clinics or design a private health structure that could take off the pressure of the system.
The money is tight and delays in the payment of wages to employees became regular even within the health care structures that are maintained via the government budget.
Suprun stated that the government is looking into reserves to find money to cover the debt to medical professionals.
Only some regions within Ukraine don’t have a debt to health care workers. Suprun pointed out that local authorities are to blame for failing to reorganize the medical care structures with the view to be autonomous and have the ability to pay doctors how much they see fit. At the moment, there are set tariffs that should be abided by, under which doctors are given a certain salary.
In the autonomous structure to which the hospitals are moving they will be able to charge patients for the services and at the same time set appropriate salaries for the medical personnel. Instead of building a structure of private health services and hospitals, the previously free medical assistance is to become paid, which Ukrainian officials call ‘autonomy’.
Statistics of wage arrears by region.
No more free medical for Ukrainians?
It seems that the era of free medical that was the pride of the Soviet Union’s health care system and was followed by Ukraine after the dissolution of the USSR may be ending. The government can no longer finance free heath care for its citizens and hospitals will have to fend for themselves, charging patients for services, which used to be covered by the government insurance scheme.
This will provide medical doctors with remuneration that is higher than the one under the budget financing. Suprun pointed out that the clinics which had adopted autonomy are able to pay their GPs and surgeons three times more than the ones on the tariff.
An online poll by Segodnya.ua in October 2018 asked users how the quality of medical services changed after the reform. 51% of respondents had the impression the quality of medical services became worse, while 9% saw an improvement. 40% of respondents believe it didn’t change for better or worse.
Read also:
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- Population of Ukraine 1990-2018: Official statistics by Ukrstat. Divorce rate, male to female ratio
- Most common jobs in Ukraine, statistics on wages by occupation (2018)
- Ukraine is still the poorest country in Europe
The primary solution for all governments is (and has to be) increased taxes. It is endemic to their failed design. Because we do not force the government to be run like a business (the USA, if a business, would and should be bankrupt), devaluing the currency (which is why fiat money is everywhere) and raising taxes for the majority of working (yes, working not rich) citizens. (The rich do not suffer in any modern government.) Governments have a myriad of devious schemes–state licensing and sales taxes are two of them–to increase tax revenues without increasing the tax percentage rate (the… Read more »