Bolojan, about health contributions: “There are 10 million citizens who do not pay. No system in this world works like that”

“There are 10 million citizens who do not pay” the contribution to health insurance, prime minister Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday, in a show at Antena 3 CNN, the head of the Government explaining that the number of contributors must increase, in the context that one of the austerity measures announced concerns the payment of CASS by the pensioners whose pension exceeds.

“As for the part of structural expenses, you asked me about the health contribution for the pensioners who have over 3,000 lei. We have done all these years, I thought that the health system can work without problems, except by a law, by a government decision, the social categories from the payment to which the system is financed.”

“And we came to the situation, through all these measures, to have about 6 million – 6.3 million people contributing to the revenues of the house (health insurance, no) and to have over 16 million beneficiaries,” he continued.

“No system in this world works like this, and the state has to give millions to keep the system in operation. Everyone who benefits must at least symbolically pay a contribution and, on the other hand, because taking less from more, some money is gathered,” the prime minister said.

Ilie Bolojan's details:

• “There are 10 million citizens who do not pay.
• We need to expand the number of contributors.
• In vain do you reduce only one expense today, because if it is not structural, it will return next year.
• I worked on a package of income increases and a package of spending discounts.
• We can reduce them in the public sector because we do not have a very large public sector in relation to the state's needs or to the number of citizens.
• We have a too high public sector at the number of citizens employed in the real economy.
• There are too few taxpayers to the number of employees.
• You have two possibilities: reduce the salary or number of employees.“

Among the measures announced by Prime Minister Bolojan are the payment of the health contribution by the pensioners whose pension exceeds the threshold of 3,000 lei. Basically, for what exceeds 3,000 lei, a 10%contribution will be paid. At the same time, the prime minister announced that, in 2026, pensions will no longer be increased.

The discussion about the payment of CASS at the “big” pensions appeared a month ago, when the Minister of Finance at that time, Tanczos Barna, confirmed that the measure could be included in the list of those who will be adopted. He also showed that a legal formula can be found to pass and the filter of constitutionality.

The payment of the social health insurance contribution (CASS) has been introduced from January 1, 2022 for pensioners who had pensions more than 4,000 lei, but only for the part that exceeds this threshold.

The measure was applied for almost a year, until December 2022, after which the Constitutional Court declared this tax unconstitutional, and the Government returned to the pensioners the amounts charged as CASS.