Healthcare System (Latvia)

Go back to Latvia page

Latvia operates under a form of universal healthcare system, overseen by the Latvian National Health Service (NHS), a body under the Ministry of Health. The NHS implements healthcare policy, purchases services, and administers healthcare funding. However, access to care sometimes presents challenges due to the geographical distribution of health professionals, user charges, and long waiting lists.

Healthcare benefits are funded primarily through general taxation, with additional financing coming from social security contributions, the rate of which was increased in 2018. While residents receive coverage for a range of services, the publicly-funded health benefits package is somewhat limited. It covers a predetermined number of services each year provided by NHS-contracted providers and institutions but excludes adult dental care, most rehabilitation and physiotherapy, and some other services.

Access to Latvia's healthcare benefits requires formal residency, social security contributions, and registration with a General Practitioner. Despite this, the proportion of out-of-pocket payments is high due to limited state financing, and there has been a rise in privately financed health care services.

Local governments play a role in ensuring geographical access and, depending on budget and local priorities, maintain hospitals and long-term social care facilities. The national parliament, the Saeima, has significant influence over health policy and approves the national and NHS budgets.

Latvia has been advancing in the digitization of health data, with claims data, registries, and electronic health records managed by the NHS through the Latvian eHealth system. It enhances coordination of care by allowing the sharing of patient data across healthcare providers, and also enables patients to access their personal health records.