The Council of Ministers approved the draft budgets for the state, the NHIF, and the SSI for 2026.

The Council of Ministers approved the new versions of the draft state budget, the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), and the budget of the State Social Insurance (SSI) for 2026, the government press center announced.

The draft NHIF budget does not include the initially planned transfer of €260 million intended to support doctors without a specialty in state and municipal hospitals. Instead, €30 million has been allocated in the Ministry of Health’s budget to launch a Support Program for medical residents. The program is expected to cover all nearly 6,500 residents in the country.

For 2026, revenues and transfers amounting to €5.29 billion are planned in the NHIF budget. Of these, health insurance revenues amount to €5.17 billion, including €3.15 billion from health insurance contributions and over €2.02 billion in the form of health insurance transfers.

The total amount of revenues and expenditures in the bill is €444.25 million more than the Fund’s budget for 2025, representing a growth of 9.2%. Funds for health insurance payments reach €4.92 billion—an increase of nearly €384 million, or 8.5% on an annual basis.

In 2026, the Ministry of Health will provide monthly transfers to the NHIF in a total annual amount of €98.7 million for the payment of activities outside the scope of mandatory health insurance.

The expenditure part of the budget includes €352.3 million for primary outpatient medical care, €352.5 million for specialized outpatient care, €170 million for medico-diagnostic activities, and over €2.3 billion for hospital medical care. €233.5 million is provided for dental activities, including funds for the production of total dentures.

A total of €1.33 billion is allocated for medicinal products, medical devices, and dietary foods for home treatment. Of these, €42.5 million is intended for 100% reimbursed medications, medical devices, and dietary foods, as well as for supporting pharmacies in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

Under the new draft, antibiotics and antiviral drugs for children up to 7 years of age, as well as medications for the treatment of oncological diseases, remain in the group of medicinal products for home treatment, which has now been divided into two subgroups—reference and generic medications. €1.13 billion is allocated for reference drugs, and €130.1 million for generics.

The separation of the two groups is related to proposed changes in the Health Insurance Act, according to which generic medicinal products are excluded from the NHIF budget’s predictability and sustainability mechanism. The government states that this measure aims for better cost predictability and broader access to therapy for socially significant diseases.

The cabinet emphasizes that the parameters set in the NHIF budget for 2026 provide a stable financial framework for the functioning of the health insurance system.

You can view the draft NHIF budget here, and the state budget here.