The National House of Health Insurance (CNAS) pays the public hospitals more for salaries than for services, the study “Analysis of economic and operational performance in the health system”, carried out by the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest together with the “Regina Maria” health network.
CNAS funds go more on wages than on photo archive treatments
According to the analysis, during the period 2018-2024, the expenses of the Unique National Health Insurance Fund (FNUASS) with health services increased by 108% in current prices and by 37% in constant prices. As a result, their share in their GDP increased from 3.5% to 3.9%.
Within the expenses of FNUASS, the hospital services have the highest weight, in 2024 being allocated 46% of the total payments, according to Agerpres.
In 2024, the value of payments for services was 16 billion lei, and the one for salaries – 15.5 billion lei. In 2025, regarding the expenses of FNUASS, the amount allocated to the payment of the staff exceeds the one allocated to the services, the source said.
The project included 709 public and private sanitary units: 353 public and 356 private.
In 2024, the health insurance houses contracted with the 709 hospitals 121,000 beds, of which 72% for continuous hospitalization, 20% – continuous hospitalization, and the rest – day hospitalization, the analysis shows.
In total, there were 3.27 million cases of acute patients, of which 95% in public hospitals, 390 chronic patients, of which 85% in public hospitals and 6.3 million daily hospitalization services, of which 79% in public hospitals.
The sanitary units in the sample received from the FNUASS 28 billion lei, equal distributed between services and payments. In total, 85% of the funds were collected by public hospitals, the study states.
In this regard, the producers of the analysis notice major deficiencies of the financing mechanisms for hospital services.
First of all, they say, the services on services are under-dimensioned and do not cover the costs of the suppliers, and the methods of covering the difference between costs and rates lead to inefficiency, the decrease of the motivation of public hospitals to optimize their functioning, inequity between suppliers and to insured, but also endangering the budgetary sustainability.
