21.07.08

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called Monday for promoting competition in the healthcare industry and suggested an overhaul of health insurance legislation, ITAR-TASS reported.

"The problem of competition in healthcare services requires most serious attention," Medvedev said at an official meeting on healthcare services. "(Such competition) doesn't exist now."

Medvedev proposed lifting restrictions on private businesses' participation in government healthcare programs to encourage competition. "Any entities, regardless of their legal status or form of ownership, should be allowed to take part in (government healthcare) tenders," he said.

Medvedev also called for insurance companies to assume full risks related to their clients' health. At present, such risks are shared by hospitals and local authorities, he added. "(Insurance companies should) assume responsibility for the insurance risks they're required to guarantee - (their clients') diseases and the quality of healthcare services," Medvedev said.

Commenting on public healthcare spending, Medvedev said that the government was expected to increase spending on healthcare services "by several times" by 2020.

Medvedev also said that he believed the current level of tobacco and alcohol consumption in Russia was "unacceptable."

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Source: Prime-Tass