Healthcare in Russia

Healthcare in Russia is provided by the state through the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, and regulated through the Ministry of Health. The Constitution of the Russian Federation has provided all citizens the right to free healthcare since 1993. In 2008, 621,000 doctors and 1.3 million nurses were employed in Russian healthcare. The number of doctors per 10,000 people was 43.8, but only 12.1 in rural areas. The number of general practitioners as a share of the total number of doctors was 1.26 percent. There are about 9.3 beds per thousand population—nearly double the OECD average.

Expenditure on healthcare was 6.5% of Gross Domestic Product, US$957 per person in 2013. About 48% comes from government sources which primarily come from medical insurance deductions from salaries. About 5% of the population, mostly in major cities, have voluntary health insurance.

The total population of Russia in 2016 was 146.8 million. Among this population, the number of employed individuals reached 72.3 million, involved in the 99 main types of productive and nonproductive activities. In modern conditions, the world experts estimate the overall health of the Russian working population (men 18–60 years, women 18–55 years) to be rather low due to the high mortality rate, significantly higher male mortality level, and a high prevalence of major noncommunicable diseases, especially those of the circulatory, respiratory, and digestive system. According to official government statistics, 1 of every 3 workers in Russia is exposed to harmful working conditions in which the levels of exposure in the workplace exceed the national hygienic standards. However, the level of occupational morbidity in Russia remains extremely low. In 2014, only 8175 cases of occupational diseases were reported, representing 5.5 cases per 100,000 in the general population, a rate much less than in many European countries.

After the end of the Soviet Union, Russian healthcare became composed of state and private systems. Drastic cuts in funding to the state-run healthcare system brought declines in the quality of healthcare it provided. This made pricier private facilities competitive by marketing themselves as providing better-quality healthcare. After Boris Yeltsin resigned, privatization was no longer the priority, with Vladimir Putin bringing back higher funding to the state-owned healthcare system. The state healthcare system greatly improved throughout the 2000s, with health spending per person rising from $96 in 2000 to $957 in 2013.

Due to the Russian financial crisis since 2014, major cuts in health spending have resulted in a decline in the quality of service of the state healthcare system. About 40% of basic medical facilities have fewer staff than they are supposed to have, with others being closed down. Waiting periods for treatment have increased, and patients have been forced to pay for more services that were previously free.