Latvia: health system summary 2022
Health System Summary
Overview
The Latvian National Health System serves a population of 1.93 million. Despite near universal population coverage, the benefits package is rather limited in scope and co-payments are required for a number of services as well as for reimbursable medicines. Health spending has been increasing since the beginning of the decade and in 2019, represented 6.6% of GDP. Nevertheless, per capita spending in Latvia is among the lowest across EU countries and within the WHO European Region. Out-of-pocket (OOP) spending on health, particularly on pharmaceuticals, is one of the highest in Europe and more than double the EU average.
After the economic crisis, from 2009–2012 a shock-type reform led to a dramatic reduction in the number of hospitals, and far-reaching changes in health care administrative institutions. Since 2017 there has been a strong focus on the financial sustainability of the health system but attempts to introduce a social health insurance component into the funding base were abandoned in 2021. Other areas targeted by health reforms include strengthening primary health care, along with health promotion and preventive strategies, reducing health inequalities, improving retention of health workers to tackle shortages, and enhancing the accessibility, quality and efficiency of health care services.