Recall that earlier by Appendix No. 5 to the Rules of Compulsory Medical Insurance, approved by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 108n dated February 28, 2019, determining the coefficients of the amount of non-payment or incomplete payment of the costs of a medical organization for the provision of medical care as a basis for non-payment and incomplete payment it was established that the patient or his representative purchased medicinal products for medical use, included in the list of vital and essential medicinal products, and (or) medical products included in the list of medical products implanted into the human body, on the basis of clinical guidelines, taking into account the standards of medical care and / or the use by a medical organization of drugs provided by a patient or another organization acting in the patient’s interests, from other sources of funding (with the exception of the provision of medical care on an outpatient basis).
Similar provisions were contained in clause 2.10 of the annex to the Procedure for monitoring the volume, timing, quality and conditions for the provision of medical care for compulsory health insurance to insured persons, as well as its financial support, approved by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 231n dated 19.03.2021. The specified annex establishes the List of grounds for refusing to pay for medical care.
However, on July 1, 2021, by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated July 1, 2021 No. 696n, the provisions stating that the use by a medical organization of drugs provided by a patient or another organization acting in the patient's interests from other sources of funding was excluded from the above documents is the basis for refusing to pay for medical care.
Thus, now medical organizations will be able to use in the treatment of patients’ personal medicines or provided by another organization acting in the interests of the patient, from other sources of funding.
At present, this innovation has caused a very large amount of controversy as to whether such an assumption is useful, because in fact the patient can be “forced” to independently purchase medicines at his own expense. A number of open sources on the Internet claim that, thanks to the amendments, hospitals are relinquishing responsibility for drug provision of patients.
On the other hand, there are opinions that with a shortage of drugs and in some cases the impossibility of their prompt purchase by a hospital, this innovation would partially solve this problem.
The explanatory note to the document states that it will allow charitable foundations to “provide patients with expensive medicines to provide them with medical care in inpatient conditions”. That is, patients and benefactors were legally allowed to provide assistance in providing drugs to patients, including in the process of their treatment in a hospital.
Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that these norms require specification in order to protect the interests of patients.
August 11, 2021
