Country Report: Lithuania. Healthcare system

rticle 53 of the Constitution of Lithuania enshrines the obligation for the state to take of human health and guarantee medical assistance and services. It further enshrines that the law may establish a procedure for providing free medical assistance by public healthcare institutions.58The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) are the main central institutions, with local administrations playing an important role in the delivery of the healthcare services. The MoH supported by a handful of specialised agencies formulates health policy and regulations. Insurance coverage is provided to the population by the NHIF. In order to obtain coverage, persons resident in Lithuania must contribute to the NHIF, apart from children, students, pensioners and the unemployed, who are exempted from this requirement and are automatically covered by the NHIF.59Mostactors in Lithuanian’s healthcare system are public entities, nonetheless, private providers play an increasing role in the rapidly developing day care and day surgery segment as well as in diagnostic and interventional imaging services.