Romanian health minister pushes for privately managed public insurance system

Health minister Alexandru Rogobete (Social Democratic Party - PSD) has called for breaking the monopoly of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) and introducing competition among multiple insurance funds, both public and private, as part of a broader reform of Romania’s healthcare financing system. He has not mentioned whether this is his party's idea or whether PSD supports it.

In an interview with G4media.ro on February 14, Rogobete said the current model should be replaced with a system in which citizens can choose their insurer, while contributions continue to be collected by the state.

“It’s very simple here. In the Israeli model, which seems to me the most applicable or replicable for Romania, people do not pay directly to the House. The Ministry of Finance collects the contribution for health insurance and transfers it to the insurance company that the person chooses. Basically, it is not the house that will collect, but the state that will collect. The house will pay for the services in the hospital, after which the state will reimburse these services,” Rogobete explained.

The proposal would effectively introduce competition in the administration of mandatory health insurance contributions, a significant shift from the current single-payer model operated by CNAS.

CNAS president Horațiu-Remus Moldovan responded that genuine reform should focus on strengthening the autonomy of the existing system rather than dismantling it.

“The real health reform is not ‘breaking the CNAS monopoly’, but real autonomy of health insurance and the correct spending of money for patients,” Moldovan said, according to Agerpres.

He defended the current solidarity-based framework, arguing that it ensures broad and relatively equal access to healthcare services.

“The current system, based on CNAS, has a great advantage: it offers a relatively uniform basic package for all patients, regardless of income, age, or health status. It is a solidarity system in which the healthy contribute to the sick, and those with higher incomes support access for the vulnerable. This is a fundamental principle of any modern public health system,” Moldovan said in a press release.

(Photo source: Facebook/Alexandru Rogobete)