Health Minister’s Parliament address highlights increased funding, services for Universal Healthcare Programme

Georgian Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili on Thursday highlighted increased funding of the Universal Healthcare Programme and higher number of financed services in his address to the Parliament.

In comments overviewing his office’s work over the past year, Azarashvili said the Programme’s budget had reached ₾880 million ($345.84mln) while annual funding for treatment of oncological diseases had increased to ₾25,000 ($9,825) per patient.

Age limit on funding for defibrillators has been removed, and age limit on funding for ablations has also been removed [...] A component for the treatment of congenital heart defects was added to the Programme, and a component for the rehabilitation of conditions developed as a result of brain and spinal cord injury has been launched”, Azarashvili said, noting the annual budget for the latter was estimated at ₾11 million ($4.32mln).

The Minister also noted the adoption of the first national Strategy for the Development of Rehabilitation Services between 2023-2027, and said all clinics across the country would be required to obtain international accreditation starting from January 2025.

By introducing this, one of the most powerful tools, we will promote safe treatment of patients on the one hand, and the state budget will be directed towards financing of quality services on the other”, Azarashvili said.

The Minister also detailed the introduction of a Diagnosis-Related Group funding model, which allows automatic calculation of a fair price the Ministry will pay for quality treatment of citizens. Azarashvili said “we can confidently say that the DRG financing model has already been successfully introduced and working in Georgia”.

The system became operational in medical facilities in November, setting standardised prices for medical services. Azarashvili said the costs were now “equal for all medical institutions across the country”.