The persons not enshrined in the public health insurance system, or at the National Health Insurance House (CNAS), benefit from a series of minimum packages of medical services, including emergency and hospitalization during the period as medical emergency.
Uninsured patients pay photo hospitalization: Truth
The uninsured persons at the National Health Insurance House, who need to be hospitalized, but have conditions that do not represent medical emergencies, must pay both medical interventions and hospitalization in state units.
The minimum price for one day of hospitalization is established by law, but it differs depending on the medical specialization and from one hospital to another.
They benefit from a package of medical services for the prevention and combating of cancer, according to Law 293/2022, as well as the medical services package in specialized ambulatory nurse for performing for liver B virus, hepatitis C and in pregnant and HIV, according to Antena 3 CNN.
Thus, a patient who is not insured at CNAS benefits from free medical services strictly in emergency situations, and can be admitted for free in a state hospital only during a medical emergency.
After it is established that the patient’s medical situation is no longer an emergency, the continuation of the hospitalization involves the full payment of the costs, which include accommodation, food, costs for investigations, treatments and sanitary materials.
The Ministry of Health analyzes the possibility that uninsured patients can access medical services in public hospitals.
240 lei, the lowest price of a state of hospitalization if you are not insured
The cost of a day of hospitalization in the state units varies according to the hospital, location and the section in which the patient is admitted.
For chronic patients, the average tariff settled by the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) of hospitals in Bucharest is about 240 lei per day, according to official data.
The highest costs are at the recovery sections for respiratory disorders and chronic pediatrics, and the lowest are in psychiatry and recovery and physical medicine and children’s recovery.
For complex interventions, such as cardiovascular surgery, costs can exceed 4,000 lei per day, and in the case of hospitalization for infectious diseases can pass 1,000 lei per day.
These amounts represent the CNAS settlement rates to hospitals, but they can be higher than this basic value, depending on the hospital. Patients who are not insured are fully supported by these costs.
In private, hospitalization costs between 1,500 lei-4,000 lei/day
The cost of a day of hospitalization in private units is significantly higher than in the state system and varies according to the medical specialty, the complexity of the case and the services included.
There are private hospitals in Bucharest with prices between 800 lei and 2,000 lei, but they can exceed this interval, depending on the type of medical reserve, the level of comfort offered and the complexity of the necessary medical interventions.
In complex cases that require intensive care or specialized surgery, the costs can skip 4,000 lei per day.
For insured patients, there are certain discounts depending on the ceiling approved with CNAS by each private medical unit, but uninsured patients must pay the entire amount.
How much does an operation or other state medical services cost
In Romania, the costs for hospitalization and surgery in state hospitals are established by a national mechanism called DRG (Diagnosis Related Group). DRG assumes that each treated case has a rate calculated according to the formula: tariff for weighted case (TCP) × Complexity index (ICM). TCP is a fixed amount, which, however, from one hospital to another, and ICM shows how complex the case is treated, according to Order no. 444 of February 7, 2025.
For 2025, the average case per case (TCP) is about 1,800–2,000 lei, and the ICM varies from 0.4 for very simple cases, up to over 10, for complex cases. For example, in a hospital with TCP = 1,854 lei and ICM = 1.64, the cost settled for a case would be around 3,040 lei, according to the annexes to the mentioned order.
In the public hospitals, the cost of the operation is not separated, but is included in this total case on the case, which covers both the surgery itself, as well as the hospitalization, care, treatment and related investigations.
Thus, the tariff settled by CNAS for a simple case is between 700 lei and 1,500 lei, while for a complex intervention, the cost can climb up to 20,000 lei. They vary according to the hospital.
In the case of uninsured patients, these amounts are paid in full.
