Romania healthcare study: CNAS rates fail to cover hospital costs

A study conducted by researchers from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE) reveals that reimbursement rates from the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) fail to cover the actual costs of hospital services in Romania's public and private sectors.

The report, titled ‘Transparency of Funds in the Romanian Medical System’, highlights significant inequities between providers. In public hospitals, over 50% of revenue from CNAS consists of salary-related allocations that are independent of the volume of medical services provided. This mechanism allows public hospitals to receive higher total funding for the same services compared to private providers, who do not benefit from these specific salary-related transfers.

Data for 2025 indicates that transfers from the Unified National Social Health Insurance Fund (FNUASS) for public hospital salaries reached approximately 16.9 billion lei, exceeding the 14.87 billion lei reimbursed for actual medical services by two billion lei. The study also notes the private sector's role in national capacity, with private hospitals handling 2.31 million day-hospitalization cases, nearly 40% of the national total.