Healthcare in Ukraine is part of a universal health care system is a successor of the Soviet healthcare system. The Ministry of Healthcare implements the state policy in the country in the field of medicine and healthcare.
As of March 2009, the Ukrainian government planned on reforming the health care system, by the creation of a national network of family doctors and improvements in the medical emergency services. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko wanted (in November 2009) to start introducing a public healthcare system based on health insurance in the spring of 2010.
Further reform was promised by Health Minister Alexander Kvitashvili in 2014 but proposals failed to make political progress and he offered his resignation – which was not accepted. State funding for hospitals covers only electricity and meager staff salaries, leading to widespread bribery. Even hot water is a problem. Charitable donations are needed to buy even basic medicines or fuel needed to visit patients.
Although some companies (in their collective agreement) supply their employee’s insurance medicine Ukraine doesn’t. But it is making a switch to insurance medicine, a transformation that will start in 2017 and will last until 2020.
Ukrainian healthcare should be free to citizens according to law, but in practice, patients contribute to the cost of most aspects of healthcare. Medical staff in the state sector have very low salaries.
Medical reform in Ukraine has been implemented since 2016. On the basis of the new Healthcare Financing Reform Concept, on October 19, 2017, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law on State Financial Guarantees of Public Health Services, which entered into force on January 30, 2018. One of the key elements of health care financing reform is the responsibility of a new body - the National Health Service.