OREANDA-NEWS  The Ministry of Health of Russia denied the data that medical care in the country will become paid, and stated that all types of medical care and drug provision in hospitals will remain free under the state guarantees program.

"The information that medical care will become paid does not correspond to reality and is nothing more than an unqualified assessment of the content of the regulatory act distributed by a number of media outlets," Alexei Kuznetsov, Assistant Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, told Interfax on Wednesday.

All types of medical care - including emergency, urgent, as well as planned, provided in a hospital or outpatient, drug provision in hospitals will continue to be provided free of charge within the framework of the state guarantees program.

"No changes are planned in this part. Moreover, the rules establish an exhaustive list of cases when organizations providing medical care under the state guarantees program or the territorial state guarantees program are entitled to provide paid services to patients. For the most part, we are talking about cases when a particular procedure is carried out not according to a doctor's prescription or vital indications, but at the patient's own will and initiative," he added.

The Assistant Minister noted that all necessary medical care is provided free of charge to citizens of the Russian Federation under the CHI policy. For several years, the program of state guarantees has been constantly expanding, it includes new, modern methods of diagnosis and treatment.

Medical organizations, when concluding a contract for the provision of paid medical services, are obliged to provide the patient with information in an accessible form that he can receive appropriate medical care for free under the state guarantees program. Also, the medical organization is obliged to notify the patient about the deadlines for waiting for medical care when receiving it for free.

Earlier, the media reported that from September 1, a number of medical services will be paid, in particular, according to media reports, some emergency care will allegedly be provided on a paid basis.