Skopje, 7 April 2025 (MIA) —  As of April, family physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists as well as dentists covered by the national capitation plan for primary health care providers will receive higher payment based on enrolled patients, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Minister of Health Arben Taravari, and Health Insurance Fund director Sasho Klekovski told a press conference on World Health Day, April 7.

The capitation fee per patient for GPs and OB/GYNs will increase by 33 percent, from 75 to 100 denars, and the capitation fee per patient for dentists will increase by 23 percent, from 61 to 75 denars.

The intended results of the government's decision to raise the capitation fee payable to medical practitioners is to motivate more young physicians and nurses to stay in primary health care and for doctors to better educate their patients about disease prevention and vaccination.

Mickoski said this was a landmark increase and added that higher salaries meant more motivated doctors.

Taravari said primary care physicians should be allowed to perform heart ultrasound and other exams they were educated and licensed to do, without referring patients to a specialist.

Klekovski said the public image of GPs as "administrators and writers of prescriptions and referrals" needed to be abandoned.

The Health Insurance Fund head also said the Ministry of Health had adopted new protocols for primary care instructing GPs to pay more attention to cardiovascular diseases.

Additionally, according to Klekovski, new goals have been set for the prevention and early detection of prostate cancers, colon cancers, and cervical cancers; for the early detection of depression in young people aged 18 to 35; for the early detection of undescended testicles and spinal deformities in children; and, for the first time ever, for strengthening the implementation of the national immunization program by educating the public about vaccines. mr/