Up to 6 years imprisonment for "charitable contributions" in hospitals: what the new bill proposes

A bill No. 15298 "On Amendments to Article 184 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding the Right to Free Medical Care" has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada.

The authors explain the need for changes by the fact that despite the Medical Guarantees Program being in effect, cases of charging money for services already paid for by the state continue to be recorded in practice.

According to the legislation on healthcare and the system of state financial guarantees, a patient should not pay for a medical service if it is included in the state-guaranteed package of medical services.

The bill proposes to revise Article 184 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine in a new edition and significantly expand the list of acts for which criminal liability may arise.

What is proposed to be punished

One of the key changes is the specification of cases of illegal collection of money from patients.

Criminal liability is proposed for illegal demands for payment (including in the form of charitable contributions, donations, or other payments) for medical services, medicines, and medical devices provided under the state medical service guarantees program, other programs funded by the state and/or local budgets, as well as from other sources not prohibited by law.

In addition, the bill proposes to explicitly provide liability for refusal to provide such services, medicines, or medical devices due to illegal demands for payment.

What punishment is provided

For illegal demands for payment, including under the guise of charitable contributions or donations, as well as for refusal to provide free medical services, medicines, or medical devices due to non-payment, it is proposed to establish a fine or probation supervision for a term of three to five years with possible deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.

If such acts are committed repeatedly or by prior conspiracy of a group of persons, or if they caused material damage in large amounts or significant harm to the health of the victim, the punishment may be imprisonment for a term of two to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

If such acts caused material damage in especially large amounts or resulted in death or other serious consequences, the bill provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of three to six years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of three to five years.

New criteria for material damage

A separate novelty of the bill is the introduction in Article 184 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine of a note defining criteria for large and especially large amounts of material damage.

Damage is proposed to be considered large if its amount exceeds one hundred times the non-taxable minimum income of citizens, and especially large if it exceeds two hundred fifty times that minimum.

Thus, the bill aims to eliminate the practice of charging money for medical services, medicines, and medical devices already financed by the state. At the same time, the document proposes to specify the elements of the relevant offenses, expand the list of punishable acts, and significantly strengthen criminal liability for violations of patients' rights to free medical care depending on the severity of the consequences caused.

If adopted, Article 184 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine will effectively transform from a provision that provides liability for certain violations in the healthcare sector into a special criminal-legal mechanism protecting the patient's right to receive free medical services, medicines, and medical devices guaranteed by the state.

Recall that the Verkhovna Rada also proposes to revise other criminal law norms, namely in the field of mobilization. In particular, illegal mobilization of employees of Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support and members of Military Commissariats is proposed to be punishable by imprisonment for up to 8 years.

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