​The Administration of Hospitals and Medical Services of Bucharest and the heads of 19 hospitals managed by the City Hall of the capital, through the ASSMB, signed a joint memorandum, drawing attention to the negative consequences for the health care system due to the application of GEO 90/2023 to approve measures to reduce budget expenditures, which recently entered into force. They charge that the Decree has a “deeply negative impact on hospitals and patients.”

The memorandum is addressed to the government, namely to Prime Minister Marcel Cholak, Minister of Health Alexander Rafila, Minister of Finance Marcel Bolos with a request to take “all the necessary legal steps to initiate and adopt a regulatory act amending GEO no. 90/2023, in the sense of establishing a derogation/exemption from the application of Article I paragraph. (1) and from Article II para. (1), regarding purchases and expenses intended for health care institutions”.

“Although declaratively, GEO 90/2023 aims to stop excessive, uncontrolled spending, as well as to limit public spending, in reality it creates a number of practical problems, especially negatively affecting the health care system,” the signatories of the memorandum say.

They emphasize that “the right to health care is a constitutional right, which is possible only if the state takes the necessary measures for its provision and implementation in optimal conditions. Thus, by adopting all measures to reduce budget expenditures established by GEO 90/2023, without deviating from the health care system, a serious violation of the human constitutional right to health care and the state’s obligation to guarantee it is committed.” .

“The austerity measures introduced by GEO 90/2023 risk undermining the foundation of the health care system, endangering the health and lives of patients. In essence, this is an encroachment on the fundamental right to health guaranteed by the Constitution. Health is not a luxury, but a necessity, a right that cannot be sacrificed on the altar of economy. Out of concern for the people, we call on the responsibility and humanity of the decision makers to review this regulation so as to ensure that all citizens can benefit from quality health care services available at all times. For the government, the moral imperative is to protect public health and not threaten it through restrictive fiscal policies, says Oana Sivach, CEO of ASSMB.

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