Russia

At the beginning of April 2021, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation released the final report on key results of 2020 and main targets for 2021. One of the key achievements is the increased number of medical organizations licensed to conduct high-end medical care (reached 629, including 141 federal centers).

In March 2021, Orders on the approval of the several standards of medical care entered into force, including standards for the provision of medical care for adults with gastrointestinal stromal tumors, cancer of the rectum, esophagus, cardia, biliary system, tracheal cancer, etc. For the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, patients will be provided with primary health care, specialized care, and laboratory testing.

On January 21, 2021, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation published an order approving the 2021 proportion of labor cost of High-End Medical Care (not included in the Mandatory Health Insurance program - List II) tariffs. The proportion of labor cost of most High-End Medical Care categories remained unchanged, while the proportion of several categories in the areas of pediatric care and cardiovascular surgery were increased by up to 5%.

On January 5, 2021, the President of the Russian Federation signed the Decree on the establishment of the Fund to support children with severe life-threatening and chronic diseases, including rare (orphan) diseases called the “Circle of Kindness”.

On December 28, 2020, the Government of the Russian Federation released a Decree which approved the program of State Guarantees in Health Care for 2021. The program determines the average level of financing of health care services, but most importantly, the list of procedures covered as part of the High-End Medical Care. The newly introduced High-End Medical Care lists changes concern the cardiovascular, neurological, ENT, surgical procedures, endocrine, orthopedics, dermatology, and other technology groups.

In December 2020, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has expanded the Nomenclature of medical services in Russia. Section II of "Nomenclature of medical services" will contain new procedure codes that relate to medical interventions in obstetrics and gynecology.

In December 2020, the law on the reform of the Mandatory Health Insurance system was signed by the President of the Russian Federation. The key changes are related to the role of the Medical Insurance Organizations – the current intermediatory between the Fund for Mandatory Medical Insurance and providers of care. From 2021, the Federal Fund will directly contract and provide financing to federal organizations, for provision of High End Medical Care (part 1 of the HEMC List, focused on care, integrated in the Mandatory Medical Insurance financing scheme).

During presentation at the conference "Medicine and quality - 2020", Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, Evgeniy Kamkin, released information about the volume of High-End Medical Care in 2020. The volume of High-End Medical Care in the first ten months of 2020 decreased by an average of 10% compared to the same period in 2019. The reason for the decrease in the provision of High-End Medical Care was the re-profiling of medical organizations for the fight against COVID-19.

The ultimate step in establishing reimbursement is achieved by making reimbursement applications to authorities. MTRC provides support with the development of reimbursement applications for a novel procedure code, change of diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) and establishing other payment mechanisms in the Nordic region and Russia.

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the Order of November 7, 2020, N 2892-r on budget allocations of over 800 million rubles for the provision of subsidies to subordinate institutions of Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) for the procurement of laboratory equipment in order to develop a sustainable system for the prevention, detection, and response to threats to the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population.

The Ministry of Health has adjusted the regulatory nomenclature of medical devices, separating software, which is a medical device, into a separate group. The classification of software is given depending on the potential risk of its use. A potential risk class is assigned to software regardless of the potential risk class of the medical device in combination with which it is used. The order does not apply to medical products previously submitted for state registration.

As part of efforts to increase the effectiveness of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, the Ministry of Health of Russia informed suppliers, manufacturers and executive authorities that, subject to the rules for submitting documents for registration of medical devices intended for the diagnosis of coronavirus infection, their registration will be carried out as soon as possible deadlines.