Portuguese Government to negotiate ambulance service prices

The Portuguese Government has committed to beginning negotiations in December to revise the current price list for patient transport services. This announcement follows a meeting between the Portuguese Ambulance League (LPA) and Health Minister Ana Paula Martins.

As a result of these commitments, the LPA has suspended a planned slow-march protest in Lisbon involving approximately 100 ambulances and patient transport vehicles. The protest was originally organized to address several grievances, including state-imposed pricing, payment delays from the National Health Service (SNS), and exclusion from fuel subsidies.

In addition to the upcoming price negotiations, the Government announced that private non-urgent patient transport companies will now be included in extraordinary and temporary financial support measures designed to mitigate rising fuel costs. The LPA described the meeting as having a “constructive dialogue and institutional openness,” noting that the proposed remuneration models aim to ensure economic sustainability for operators without necessarily increasing public expenditure.