Patient fees are payments performed by patients, while receiving state funded healthcare services. The largest share of service costs is covered from the funds of the state budget. Upon the payment of patient fees, the payment document must be received - a receipt or a strict accountability receipt.
Information on the amount of patient fees can be found in the Pricelist section of Vizuālā diagnostika Ltd. website for each type of examination.
Population groups, who are released from patient fee payments
The following categories of residents are released from patient fee payments:
- children up to 18 years of age;
- pregnant women and postnatal women up to day 42 (if pregnancy, pregnancy monitoring or postnatal follow up related healthcare services are received);
- politically repressed people, members of national resistance movement and people, who have suffered as a result of Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, as well as people who have suffered as a result of liquidation of the consequences of Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster;
- People with Group I disability;
- tuberculosis patients and patients, who are being examined with the purpose of determining the diagnosis of tuberculosis;
- psychiatric patients, who receive psychiatric therapy;
- patients, upon the receipt of chronic haemodialysis, haemodiafiltration and peritoneal dialysis procedures during the entire therapy process;
- people, who receive healthcare services in the event of infectious diseases listed in Annex 6 to Cabinet Regulation No.1529;
- patients, while receiving long-term artificial lung ventilation in home setting;
- organ donors;
- people, who receive home healthcare or palliative healthcare at inpatient institutions within the programme of palliative care, as well as palliative healthcare provided by general practitioners during home visits;
- needy persons, who have been admitted as such in accordance with the regulatory enactments on the procedures for the admission of a family or a separately residing person as a needy person;
- employees of Emergency medical care service;
- people, who receive emergency medical care that is provided by emergency medical care crews;
- people, who receive services at long-term social care and social rehabilitation institutions that are registered in the Register of Social Service Providers, by demonstrating the document that confirms the aforementioned fact at medical institutions;
- all residents, who are subject to preventive screening and examinations (preventive healthcare of children, cancer prevention) in accordance with the procedures provided for by the regulatory enactments;
- all residents, who are immunised in accordance with immunisation calendar, emergency prevention of tetanus, post-exposure immunisation against rabies, as well as immunisation against influenza in accordance with the regulation on the Procedures for the Reimbursement of Expenditures for the Acquisition of Medicinal Products and Medical Devices Intended for the Outpatient Medical Treatment;
- asylum seekers;
- if patient fees paid over a period of one calendar year have reached EUR 569.15 and the patient, upon demonstrating payment confirming documents, has received a release from payments at any of the regional departments of the National Health Service.
Release from patient fees
If the sum total of patient fees paid over a period of one calendar year have reached EUR 569.15, the resident must apply to any of the regional departments of the National Health Service with an application (a sample application form is available at the website www.vmnvd.gov.lv) and demonstrate the originals of documents that certify payments made (cash register receipts, strict accountability receipts).
The regional departments of the National Health Service shall check the submitted documents and issue a certificate on the release from the payment of patient fees until the end of the calendar year. The issued certificate must be demonstrated by the respective resident, when receiving state funded healthcare services.
Which are valid payment certifying documents?
Only payment documents, that indicate that a “patient fee” for the state funded healthcare service has been paid are valid. Upon calculating the sum total of patient fees, the following payments are not taken into consideration:
- co-payments for performed surgical operations (the co-payment for the surgical manipulations performed at the operations theatre during one instance of hospitalisation may not exceed the amount of EUR 31);
- payments that have been paid for the receipt of paid medical services.
What information must be indicated in payment certifying documents?
Patients must follow the sum total of patient fees paid, keeping payment documents (receipts, strict accountability receipts), where the inclusion of the following information is mandatory:
- name and surname of the patient;
- personal ID number;
- medical institution.
If the payments of patient fees have been made via Internet banking services, the payment order must indicate precise purpose of payment, invoice number and information that certifies that a patient fee is being paid.
