How veterans can receive more free medical services, and doctors can receive additional payment for helping the Defenders of Ukraine
Who can benefit:
- participants in hostilities specified in paragraphs 19-25 of part one of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection”;
- persons with disabilities as a result of the war, as specified in paragraphs 11-16 of part two of Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection”.
What free medical services can you receive:
- individual plan of observation and treatment, examination, diagnostics, preventive examinations taking into account the health status of the war veteran, existing chronic diseases, medical history and belonging to a risk group;
- screening for conditions related to the consequences of combat (post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hypertension, chronic pain syndrome, digestive diseases, etc.), provision of extended psychological care services, psychotherapy (support of patients with PTSD and tracking the dynamics of PTSD), referral, if necessary, for consultations with a psychiatrist, psychologist or psychotherapist (individual and group therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy sessions to work with traumatic experiences, stress, anxiety and depression management programs) and further support and monitoring;
- support and treatment of chronic conditions and consequences of combat injuries with provision of timely consultation for further treatment (consultations of an orthopedic traumatologist, neurologist, surgeon, etc.). In particular, participation in the treatment of diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system (arthritis, arthrosis, joint injuries, as well as conditions after limb amputation, care for prostheses and stumps);
- detection of vision and hearing impairments and further support with timely consultation and treatment by appropriate specialists;
- participation in the development and implementation of an individual rehabilitation plan for patients with post-traumatic conditions (providing consultation with a FRM doctor to determine the scope of rehabilitation measures, specialized exercises for recovery from injuries and diseases);
- prescribing medications for the treatment of chronic pain syndrome, as well as for the control of specific neurological and psycho-emotional disorders;
- monitoring and applying additional measures to combat addictions;
- providing consultation from a social worker on access to medical and social services to receive information support about veterans' rights, the possibility of receiving additional services and benefits, organizing interaction with volunteer and public organizations for the social integration of veterans, resolving housing and material issues, and adaptation to civilian life.
Where can you get services and in what form:
- at the place of residence or via telecommunications (if the patient's condition allows).
- in medical institutions that have an agreement to participate in this experimental project.
How to find a medical facility:
- For more information, contact the National Health Service of Ukraine contact center at the toll-free number 16-77.
- ask your family doctor/therapist directly.
- check on the NSZU dashboard for by reference
What is needed to use the services?
- have or conclude a declaration with a family doctor or therapist who works at a medical institution participating in the project.
- provide documents confirming veteran status and personal data:
- passport of a citizen of Ukraine or other identity document;
- taxpayer registration card or passport series and number (for persons who refused to accept the registration number of the taxpayer registration card and notified the relevant regulatory authority about this and have a corresponding mark in their passport);
- for persons specified in paragraph two of clause 9 of these Procedures – a certificate of a participant in hostilities;
- for persons specified in paragraph three of clause 9 of these Procedures - an identity card of a person with a disability as a result of the war.
- fill out an application for medical services.
How doctors/medical institutions can join the project and receive additional payment for medical services for Defenders of Ukraine
Clarification on the principle of payment for services, as well as on the rules for maintaining electronic medical records (hereinafter referred to as EMR) in the electronic health care system (hereinafter referred to as EHR) under the package of medical services “Extended primary medical care services for certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
The specifics of the implementation of the pilot project on the provision of expanded primary medical care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine are defined in the Procedure for the implementation of the pilot project on the provision of expanded primary medical care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the Procedure), approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 4, 2025 No. 140 “Some issues of implementation pilot project on the provision of expanded primary health care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”. The National Health Insurance Fund pays for the medical services provided in accordance with the tariff and payment approaches specified in the Procedure.
In accordance with paragraph 6 of the Procedure, the participants of the pilot project are healthcare institutions regardless of their form of ownership and individuals - entrepreneurs who have received a license to conduct business activities in medical practice and have concluded a medical service agreement with the National Health Service of Ukraine on the provision of extended primary medical care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and have concluded an agreement with the National Health Service of Ukraine on medical care for the population under the medical guarantees program under the package of medical services "Primary Medical Care".
Regarding the principle of payment for medical services under the package “Extended primary medical care services for certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”
In order to ensure timely payment to healthcare institutions for the provision of expanded primary health care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine has developed a tool for receiving reports on medical services provided, the information from which will be verified with the data of the Unified State Register of Health Services.
Payment for services is made exclusively to the participant of the experimental project who submitted a declaration on the choice of a doctor providing primary medical care and who provided the relevant service to the war veteran.
The service fee is set as an annual capitation rate of UAH 647.58 per war veteran.
The fact of providing services by a participant in the pilot project within one month is confirmed by entering data into the EHR containing:
- a note about the patient's visit to the doctor or the provision of services;
- a medical record indicating the diagnosis, examination or procedures performed on the patient;
- other records corresponding to the scope of services specified in the Procedure.
The planned number of war veterans to whom the pilot project participant is ready to provide a service within one month, which is included in the planned cost, is 100 people. Regarding the entry into the Unified State Register of Health Information on the provision of medical care to patients under the package “Extended primary medical care services to certain categories of persons who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
For persons who fall under the requirements of paragraph 9 of the Procedure, a separate episode of the type “Primary medical care” is created with the name “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”.
This episode will record interactions between the patient and the healthcare professional, which can be direct (visit to the outpatient clinic, at the patient's home, etc.) or indirect (via remote telemedicine methods and means).
At the first interaction between the doctor and the patient within this episode:
in the reason for the appeal — the reason code; in the diagnosis code — “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”; in the process code — the code for diagnostics, screening, prevention (codes 30-49), medications, manipulations, treatment (codes 50–59), administrative functions (code 62) and referrals (codes 66–68); an EMZ “Treatment Plan” is created, which indicates the issued referrals for examinations and procedures. Both primary care physicians and performers can record the specified examinations and procedures by creating an EMZ “Diagnostic Report” and an EMZ “Procedure”. The codes of these interventions correspond to NC 026:2021. During subsequent visits within this episode, the visit note indicates “secondary visit”, and the actions related to providing assistance for the conditions set out in paragraph 14 of the Procedure are also indicated.
Please note that episodes that were previously created for other patient problems and/or chronic diseases remain open.
If a patient consults a family doctor about a condition for which there is an open episode, the family doctor may make records in two episodes, in particular in an already open episode, for example, for a chronic disease, where he indicates the cause code, diagnosis, process code, which are directly related to the chronic disease, and in the episode “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”, where he indicates the patient's examination codes and process codes related to extended examination, treatment and preventive measures for the conditions set out in paragraph 14 of the Procedure; prescribes an examination in accordance with the created treatment plan.
Also, a family doctor may open individual episodes when a patient presents with acute illnesses or for administrative reasons, etc.
We draw your attention to some rules for accounting for services provided in the Unified Health System, which allow minimizing duplication of services under the “Primary Medical Care” package and the “Extended Primary Medical Care Services for Certain Categories of Persons Who Defended the Independence, Sovereignty, and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine” package:
- The recording of actions for the observation and treatment of a patient diagnosed with P70-P99 is carried out in a separate episode (sensitive data) according to the usual rules. At the same time, screening for mental health disorders, providing psychological care to patients without the above diagnoses can be recorded within the episode “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”. We note that such patients may need more frequent screening for mental health disorders and disorders related to the use of psychoactive substances.
- Recording of actions for the observation and treatment of a patient with a diagnosis of “A80 Trauma / damage”, “A81 Multiple trauma / damage”, “A82 Secondary consequence of trauma”, “A89 Consequences of prosthetics” can be recorded within the episode “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”.
- Recording of activities for screening for pain syndrome, as well as monitoring and treatment of a patient with chronic pain syndrome (code A01 Generalized/multiple localization pain) can be recorded within the episode “A98 Health maintenance/prevention”.
- Recording of actions to monitor the patient's implementation of individual rehabilitation plans for recovery from injuries and illnesses or the participation of health professionals in the provision of rehabilitation care (code A57) can be recorded within the episode “A98 Health maintenance/prevention”.
- Accounting for administrative work (code A62) related to the conditions defined in paragraph 14 of the Procedure may be accounted for within the episode “A98 Health maintenance/prevention”.
- Detection of vision and hearing impairments and subsequent support with timely consultation and treatment by appropriate specialists can be recorded within the episode “A98 Health maintenance / prevention”.
We emphasize that the fact of providing services by a participant in the experimental project within one month is confirmed by entering data into the EHR containing a note about the patient's visit to the doctor; a medical record indicating the diagnosis, examination or procedures performed on the patient; other records that correspond to the scope of services defined by this Procedure. Therefore, within the open episode "A98 Health maintenance / prevention" there must be EHRs that indicate the provision of services, any interaction of medical personnel with a person of a certain contingent.
To receive payment for this package, the ID of the episode “A98 Health maintenance / prevention” must be submitted to a specially developed NSZU form — the monthly report “Extended primary health care services”.
Login to the ESOH Reporting Service of the National Health Service of Ukraine via the initial link: https://066.e-health.gov.ua/ On this page on the right in the “Instructions” block, instructions for completing this form are provided. The report must be submitted by the 14th of the month following the end of the reporting period.
Useful links:
Terms of service procurement and mechanism for submitting a proposal for concluding a contract “Doctor & Veteran” course”
Course “Medical care for veterans: new challenges and solutions”
Course “Treatment of patients with mild traumatic brain injury from blast wave exposure”
This information was prepared in accordance with explanations from open sources provided by the National Health Service of Ukraine.
The project is being implemented in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from February 4, 2025 year No. 140.