{"id":44175,"date":"2020-11-25T12:39:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T10:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/pressiteated\/foresight-health-care-has-to-choose-a-development-path-to-tackle-the-funding-crisis\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T10:13:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:13:46","slug":"foresight-health-care-has-to-choose-a-development-path-to-tackle-the-funding-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/pressiteated\/foresight-health-care-has-to-choose-a-development-path-to-tackle-the-funding-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Foresight: Health care has to choose a development path to tackle the funding crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the report \u201cThe Future of Healthcare in Estonia. Scenarios up to 2035<\/a>\u201d Estonia has the largest unmet demand for medical care in Europe, and if the current health insurance system continues, the availability of health care services will decrease.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe population of Estonia is ageing and the need for medical care increases, but if the current financing model continues, the possibilities to provide health services decrease. The Estonian Health Insurance Fund will reach funding crisis in the next five years,\u201d Head of the Foresight Centre Tea Danilov<\/strong> said. \u201cIf no additional income is found, it will mean longer treatment waiting lists, and by 2035, cost-sharing in paying for medical services would be twice as high as now. Thus, the probability of becoming impoverished due to high health expenses would also increase twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Expert of the Foresight Centre Magnus Piirits<\/strong> said that already now Estonia had the highest unmet demand for medical services in the European Union. \u201cIn 2018, more than 16% of the population did not get assistance fast enough according to their own estimation. Also, 6% of the population is not covered by medical insurance, which is one of the highest indicators in the European Union,\u201d Piirits said. \u201cIncreasing the patient\u2019s cost-sharing is not possible because it has already reached 24% of the costs of medical treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magnus Piirits added that the most dangerous development path for the Estonian health care system would be simply not making fundamental choices for the future during the next five years.<\/p>\n

Kaupo Koppel<\/strong>, an analyst at Praxis Centre for Policy Studies, said that more health problems should be solved at the primary level. \u201cFor example, in the Netherlands, more than 90% of the health problems that have emerged at the primary level are solved at the same level and the patient is not referred to another medical specialist. This has shortened waiting lists and improved the availability of health care services. On the other hand, the people of Estonia have a strong faith in specialised doctors, which means increased costs and longer waiting lists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koppel emphasised that in the future, improvement of health behaviour should also be the focus of health care. \u201cThe impact of health behaviour on the expenditure and revenue of the state is greater than the costs of financing new services,\u201d Koppel explained. \u201cEvery year, society loses tens of thousands of life years and hundreds of millions of euro due to alcohol, overweight and obesity and mental health problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report \u201cThe Future of Healthcare in Estonia. Scenarios up to 2035<\/a>\u201d presents four scenarios on the future of the Estonian health care system, which differ by the range of services provided, sources of funding and the level of innovation implemented in the field.<\/p>\n