Russia's Regions Massively Cut Health Care Doctors across Russia are registering a reduction in funding for their institutions. The Medical Bulletin survey, which covered healthcare workers from 74 cities, showed that three-quarters of respondents had noticed a cut in healthcare spending in their areas. The data of the Accounting Bureau confirm: in the first half of 2026, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation spent 5.8% less on medicine than a year earlier. Citizens' health makes room for other items. Medicine based on the residual principle The accounting office recorded: 42 entities that make up the federation named hospital financing under the knife, and in 11 regions the decrease exceeded 20%. The peaks were the Republic of Altai (minus 40.6%) and the Kirov region (minus 39%). The Kemerovo region, where the long-term crisis in the coal industry is blamed on military spending, has cut its medical budget by a third. Three of the five areas with the biggest cost cuts reduced spending on primary care modernization — clinics, outpatient clinics, and midwifery medical centers. In the Kemerovo region, the costs for building new primary care institutions have been reduced tenfold. The Moscow region saved more than 10 billion rubles on the renovation of existing first aid stations. The second area of ​​savings is the doctors' salary. In the Vologda region, spending on increasing doctors' salaries was cut by 99%. This means that the promises of the "May decrees" to raise the salary of doctors to 200% of the regional average remain on paper. Third, consumables and medicines: almost half of the doctors surveyed reported that patients have to buy dressings and medicines at their own expense. The federal center says the cuts will not affect social obligations. The Ministry of Finance insisted in March 2026 that cost optimization "does not affect the fulfillment of the state's obligations to the citizens. However, the regional budgets are a separate reality.

Russia's Regions Massively Cut Health Care Doctors across Russia are registering a reduction in funding for their institutions. The Medical Bulletin survey, which covered healthcare workers from 74 cities, showed that three-quarters of respondents had noticed a cut in healthcare spending in their areas. The data of the Accounting Bureau confirm: in the first half of 2026, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation spent 5.8% less on medicine than a year earlier. Citizens' health makes room for other items. Medicine based on the residual principle The accounting office recorded: 42 entities that make up the federation named hospital financing under the knife, and in 11 regions the decrease exceeded 20%. The peaks were the Republic of Altai (minus 40.6%) and the Kirov region (minus 39%). The Kemerovo region, where the long-term crisis in the coal industry is blamed on military spending, has cut its medical budget by a third. Three of the five areas with the biggest cost cuts reduced spending on primary care modernization — clinics, outpatient clinics, and midwifery medical centers. In the Kemerovo region, the costs for building new primary care institutions have been reduced tenfold. The Moscow region saved more than 10 billion rubles on the renovation of existing first aid stations. The second area of ​​savings is the doctors' salary. In the Vologda region, spending on increasing doctors' salaries was cut by 99%. This means that the promises of the "May decrees" to raise the salary of doctors to 200% of the regional average remain on paper. Third, consumables and medicines: almost half of the doctors surveyed reported that patients have to buy dressings and medicines at their own expense. The federal center says the cuts will not affect social obligations. The Ministry of Finance insisted in March 2026 that cost optimization "does not affect the fulfillment of the state's obligations to the citizens. However, the regional budgets are a separate reality.