Deputy PM Raluca Turcan: Single National Health Insurance Fund deficit, 3 bln lei, at nine months

Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan said on Thursday that the Single National Health Insurance Fund deficit is three billion lei (rd 630 million EUR) at nine months. 

"The most discouraging news is the one related to financing and we do not want to scare anyone, but the deficit at the Single National Health Insurance Fund is three billion lei at nine months and the first challenge of Mr. Victor Costache's term will be to provide quality services in this extremely difficult financial context. Then, obviously, the problems that have not been solved for years have to receive resolutions and I am convinced that these resolutions will be sound and will create, in time, a quality and predictive system," said Raluca Turcan, who participated in Minister of Health Victor Costache's ceremony of taking over the mandate. 

"I think it is very important for the public opinion that,within short, we also have an assessment on the situation left by the past government. There are so many problems facing the health system in Romania that confidence in the public health system has reached the lowest levels in the last 30 years. I think people need to know exactly what was found in this ministry, what failed projects there have been, what the waste was in this area that benefited from an increase in the assigned revenue, but also unfortunately, from a decrease in quality and many problems that encumber it," said Raluca Turcan. 

In her opinion, the management of the hospital structures will have to be improved, a greater emphasis will have to be placed on prevention, and family medicine should be "de-bureaucratised". 

She also emphasized that the projects of the regional hospitals remain the priority for this area.