The local offices of the National Health Insurance Company (CNAM) filed 1,335 lawsuits over the non-payment of health insurance premiums for last year on time. Of them, 771 cases were won by the CNAM, while the rest are being examined.

Contacted by IPN, head of the CNAM’s Information and Public Relations Service Silvia Munteanu said that the number of lawsuits for this year will be known at this yearend. The statute of limitations for holding accountable a person who didn’t pay health insurance premium is 3 years.

In Moldova, health insurance is mandatory. The persons who work legally and their employers pay by 4% of the salary into the health insurance funds. The officially unemployed persons and the persons who do not form part of the categories of people who are medically insured by the state must purchase a health policy themselves from the local offices of the CNAM or, during the first three months, from post offices as well.

When a person loses the job, the contributions into the health insurance funds stop to be paid. Thus, the persons must get health insurance individually for the remaining period of the year. Afterward, if these persons get a new job, they will not pay health insurance contributions for the months during which they insured themselves.

The non-payment of the mandatory health insurance policy within the legal time limit is punished with a fine of 500 to 1,100 lei plus a penalty of 0.1% of the debt for each overdue day. If the person refuses to pay, the court may order administrative arrest. Recently, a man from Stefan Voda district, who, according to the family, is unable to work, but didn’t officially record this fact, was placed under arrest for 25 days.