KS Government initiated the abolition of all citizen co-payments for treatment and healthcare

(Patria) - The Government of Sarajevo Canton today adopted the Decision to repeal the Decision on personal participation of insured persons in the costs of using healthcare and bearing the costs of treatment in the Sarajevo Canton, and sent it to the KS Assembly, which will make the final decision.

After 18 years of paying co-payments, the initiative to abolish them for all services that are paid for at all levels of healthcare in KS, as well as related administrative procedures and processes for citizens, was launched by the Ministry of Health of Sarajevo Canton and the KS Health Insurance Fund.

“Our goal is to relieve our fellow citizens in this way and provide partial assistance in the current difficult economic situation. The annual revenues of the KS Health Insurance Fund collected from the personal participation of insured persons in the costs of using health services amount to an average of about 800,000 KM, and the loss of these funds will not represent a significant financial burden for the KS Health Insurance Fund,” stated the Minister of Health of KS Enis Hasanović.

By adopting this decision, citizens will be exempted from paying for all diagnostic services, including magnetic resonance imaging, CT scans, X-rays, angiography, irigography, electromyography, electroencephalography, and many others. The collection of money from patients for all clinical examinations, treatments, analyses, check-ups, as well as for procedures for which insured persons pay up to 200 KM, will also be abolished.

The Government's decision also envisages, among other things, the abolition of co-payments for the stay of a companion mother with a child over one year of age, as well as the abolition of co-payments for treatment and rehabilitation in specialist healthcare institutions, hospital treatment, and for medicines, auxiliary and sanitary materials, and many other services.

It is important to emphasize that the adoption and implementation of this decision will also abolish long queues at the cash desks of the University Clinical Center of Sarajevo and the General Hospital "Prim.dr. Abdullah Nakaš", as well as unnecessary waiting in line by patients or their closest relatives just to get information that they do not need to pay for a health service.