Health minister skeptical about securing additional EUR 133 million to increase healthcare employees' salaries

RIGA - Health Minister Hosams Abu Meri (New Unity) is very skeptical about securing an additional EUR 133 million in the ministry's 2026 budget to increase healthcare employees' salaries by at least 13.5 percent, Abu Meri said in an interview with Latvian Television on Tuesday.

According to the minister, one has to be realistic and understand that such an amount for healthcare does not look feasible, given that the total amount of additional funds that the government has to distribute may only slightly exceed EUR 150 million, while there are many pressing needs in various sectors, including demographics and education.

If funding becomes available within the fiscal space that could be directed toward raising medical employees' salaries, the priority will be given to increasing the lowest wages, including those of nurses, who currently earn less than the EU average.

However, even this cannot yet be promised, the minister said, as agreement was reached last year that the remuneration fund must not grow by more than 2.6 percent.

"Therefore it is very difficult to talk about salaries at the moment. The government has been informed about the issue," said Abu Meri. "We agreed last week that salaries must continue to rise. We are living in an uncertain world, we need medical professionals to be available everywhere, not just in Riga and other major cities," the minister added.

Asked how much could be saved by making the healthcare system more efficient internally, the minister replied that in the best case scenario this could amount to EUR 10 million to EUR 15 million annually, but that would also require investments, for example, in digitization.

As reported, Latvian Trade Union of Health and Social Care Employees (LVSADA) expects the Health Ministry to raise medical staff's salaries by at least 13.5 percent, the union's chairman Valdis Keris told LETA after a meeting with the ministry's representatives last week.

The increase in salaries proposed by LVSASA is 1.5 percentage points lower than the initial 15 percent, but it would still require an additional EUR 133 million from the state budget.

According to Keris, the Health Ministry agreed to the union's proposal last week. Abu Meri's advisor Ilona Osa informed LETA that the minister acknowledged the critical situation in healthcare sector, particularly staff shortages. According to the Health Ministry, Abu Meri "fully recognizes the need to increase the average wages of healthcare employees and will inform the government and the Finance Ministry about the proposals submitted by the union."

At the same time, the ministry points out that budget negotiations are still ongoing, therefore it is not yet possible to submit a funding request for the proposed salary increases.

LVSADA will now wait for the government's reaction and further action regarding the union's proposal until its September 16 meeting, after which further steps will be discussed. Keris does not rule out that, if the union's demands are not met, the union could start preparing for a strike, although it is still "too early to discuss," he added.

LETA also reported, LVSADA said earlier that it would meet with the Health Ministry's representatives to launch negotiations on a 15 percent pay increase for medical staff and a EUR 140 increase in salaries of auxiliary staff in 2026.

LVSADA pointed out that this action follows the government's inability to ensure the competitiveness of the sector and the Finance Ministry's forecast of wage growth in the economy. According to the trade union, the target was set on the basis of the Finance Ministry's forecast, which foresees a 13.5 percent increase in average wages in the country over two years, from 2025 to 2026.

The union has also sent letters outlining its demands to Saeima Speaker Daiga Mierina (Greens/Farmers), all Saeima groups, Health Minister Hosams Abu Meri (New Unity), acting head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia Andris Kuznieks, and Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia chairman Egils Baldzens. The letters refer to the Public Health Guidelines for 2021-2027, calling for a significant increase in state budget funding for healthcare.

LVSADA letter also refers to the European Commission's report, which states that low state funding makes healthcare in Latvia increasingly inaccessible to residents. The union urges Saeima to ensure that the 2026 state budget provides for substantial additional funding for the Health Ministry's main functions that, according to the Public Health Guidelines, are short of around EUR 650 million at the moment.

At the beginning of August, Abu Meri said that an additional EUR 500 million to EUR 700 million would be needed to finance healthcare.