Filenews 16 October 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
Supplementary budget of €90 million. prepared by the Health Insurance Organization in order to mainly meet the needs of patients in specialized medicines, specialized treatments and operations, but also additional services that have recently been included in the General Health System.
As the director of the HIO, Angelos Tropis, explained to "F", the €90 million "will be covered by the increased revenues that the Organization has in 2025 and come from various sources and mainly from the contributions, which are increased in relation to the amount budgeted when the annual budget was drawn up, but also from the care of European citizens, since as we have recently been informed by the Ministry of Health and from this source the revenues will be increased this year"
The total increased amount of the Organization's revenues, he explained, "exceeds €100 million. and therefore, the supplementary budget will be covered without the need to make any intervention in the GHS reserve".
In detail:
Of the €90 million, €30 million is intended, mainly, for specialized medicines and treatments administered to patients through the procedures of the Committee on Nominal Requests for Medicines.
It is recalled that this is the first year in which the HIO manages the nominal requests of patients, after their transfer to the Organization by the Ministry of Health and therefore the needs seem to be greater than those originally budgeted.
At the same time, the Organization has recently relaxed the criteria for the administration of these treatments in order to serve more categories of patients from this procedure. The relaxation of the criteria, as had been foreseen, also led to an increase in expenditure.
In addition, as Mr. Tropis explained, more new and innovative drugs have been included in the GHS, which also increases the cost of medicines in general.
The increase in expenditure on medicines was expected for the HIO as, among other things, it was included in the latest updated actuarial report on the GHS.
Medicines, moreover, are identified in the actuarial study as one of the reasons why in the current three-year period, the GHS reserve will show a smaller increase compared to previous years or in the years that will follow.
Another €30 million is intended to meet the increased needs that have arisen and concern specialized treatments, mainly for cancer and kidney diseases, such as radiotherapy or dialysis, but also to meet the needs for specialized cases, many of which concern children.
Further, he explained, the services offered by other health professionals such as physiotherapists, dieticians, etc. were expanded.
In particular, in recent months, physiotherapies have increased for some categories of patients, "for example, the registry of rheumatic patients has been created and these patients have the right to more sessions or other services have been included in the GHS, so a greater expense is needed". The additional fund reaches €20 million.
Another €10 million concerns the increase in the availability of rehabilitation services, due to the increased needs, but also the coverage of the needs that have arisen from the inclusion of criteria in the way the GHS A&E operate.
