Lithuania Medical Queues and Sick Leave Pledge

infoerdve.lt editorial staff

10 July 2026

Lithuania’s incoming health minister, Linas Kukuraitis, has acknowledged that the abolition of patient co-payments for medical services could increase queues in healthcare institutions, according to the Liberal Movement faction in the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament. At the same meeting on Friday, he also agreed to take up the liberals’ proposal to reduce misuse of sick leave certificates.

The issue matters beyond party politics because it touches two practical questions for patients and employees: how quickly people will be able to receive medical care, and whether Lithuania will tighten controls on sickness benefits. The Liberal Movement says it will judge the new minister by whether the Ministry of Health bases decisions on patients’ access to services rather than mainly on whether providers are public or private.

According to the Liberal Movement faction, Kukuraitis described previous decisions by a Social Democratic representative as a major shift towards strengthening the public healthcare sector. At the same time, he acknowledged that one of the main reforms of the current parliamentary term, the abolition of co-payments for medical services, could still “load up queues”.

For international readers, the dispute is about how Lithuania should organise access to treatment inside a mixed healthcare system. The liberals argue that the ownership form of a clinic or hospital should not be the main criterion. Their position is that public funding should follow the patient and that the state must ensure quality healthcare regardless of where a person lives.

The statement does not say that Kukuraitis has already announced a detailed new plan to reduce waiting lists. His position is presented for now as a political commitment to assess earlier decisions once he starts work at the Ministry of Health.

After the meeting, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, chair of the Liberal Movement faction, said the future minister appeared too forgiving of mistakes made during the current term, even though he had not yet reviewed all the necessary information inside the ministry.

“The minister will have to show will and correct as professionally as possible the defects previously made in regulating the public health sector,” Čmilytė-Nielsen said.

Simonas Kairys, deputy chair of the faction, said the central issue should be the patient rather than the provider’s legal form. “Healthcare institutions can take various forms, but that is not the most important thing; the patient is. If the form of service is convenient for people, it should remain that way,” he said in the Seimas on Friday.

Kairys also criticised the government’s approach, saying that the authorities had acted as if the state would take better care of patients, while court decisions suggested otherwise. The source statement does not provide details of those court decisions.

A second topic at the meeting was sickness benefits and sick leave certificates. Simonas Gentvilas, a member of the Liberal Movement faction, proposed that Kukuraitis reduce misuse of sick leave benefits by employees.

The faction cited data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, saying Lithuanian residents miss an average of 26 days per year because of illness. The statement says the figure is 21 days in Latvia, 17 in Austria, and lower in other countries.

“Let us climb out from the bottom during this term. By returning people to work and reducing misuse at the expense of the health insurance fund, we would save billions,” Gentvilas said.

Kukuraitis accepted the task in direct terms, according to the faction. “The target is clear; I take it,” he told the liberals.

The political pressure has been set before Kukuraitis begins work at the Ministry of Health. The Liberal Movement says it will monitor whether the new leadership repeats earlier decisions that, in its view, harmed patient choice and access to services.

Two policy questions remain open. The first is how the ministry will manage the risk of longer patient queues after the abolition of co-payments. The second is what concrete measures, if any, will be introduced to address suspected abuse of sick leave certificates and sickness benefits.

The statement does not announce specific changes to inspections, benefit rules or medical certification procedures. Any such steps would affect employees, employers, healthcare providers and Lithuania’s health insurance system, and would require further detail from the incoming minister and the ministry.

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