Following a protracted period of anticipation, it is anticipated that Romanian citizens will commence utilisation of complementary medicine services, which have been regulated and made accessible through the public health system. The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) has achieved a significant legal victory in its ongoing dispute with the Ministry of Health. The High Court of Cassation and Justice has ruled in favour of FACIAS, requiring the Ministry to establish the regulations necessary to implement Law 118/2007. This ruling paves the way for the potential reimbursement of alternative therapies by the National Health Insurance House, as they are recognised as medical practices.
As early as 2008, the Ministry of Health was obliged to issue the rules of Law 118/2007, adopted to regulate complementary and alternative medicine. For a period exceeding 15 years, the ministry has withheld from citizens the right to have medical services for alternative therapies reimbursed by the National Health Insurance House.
FACIAS has repeatedly requested the issuance of methodological rules for the application of Law 118/2007, but the Ministry of Health has refused to comply with the law, citing the lack of further clarification in the legislation. Following a protracted period of inaction, the ICCJ ruled in favour of FACIAS, ordering the authorities to establish regulations for alternative medicine.
The ICCJ's final judgment confirms that the ministry broke the law by failing to regulate an important area for public health.
This High Court ruling paves the way for the recognition and licensing of complementary and alternative medicine practitioners, thereby giving patients access to authorised, regulated and controlled services. Furthermore, the establishment of methodological rules will facilitate the creation of criteria for the reimbursement of specific alternative medicine services by the National Health Insurance House. It is important to note that, prior to this ruling, patients have often been required to cover the full cost of these therapies, despite the documented benefits of such treatments in numerous healthcare systems worldwide.
Complementary and alternative medicine is a broad term encompassing a wide range of practices and therapies that complement or, in some cases, offer alternatives to conventional medicine. These include acupuncture, homeopathy, phytotherapy, apitherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy and traditional oriental medicine, as well as other therapies based on natural, bio-energetic or manual principles. In numerous countries, these practices have been integrated into national health systems, and some of them are recognised and covered by health insurance. In Romania, however, the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework has thus far impeded the formal recognition of these therapies and patients' access to safe and standardised services.
FACIAS will continue to implement the requisite measures to enforce the court's judgment on the recognition, authorization and regulation of alternative medicine practices until the Ministry of Health issues the order that will contain the Methodological Norms for implementing Law No. 118/2007.