The government has allocated another €1.538 billion to Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS). This is the third funding injection this year: between January and August, the SNS received €1.43 billion.
The largest share, €1.096 billion, will go towards paying for medicines sold by pharmacies at a discount subsidised by the state. A further €252 million will cover tests and diagnostic procedures, while €189 million will go towards the operating costs of ULS (local hospital and health centre networks) and IPO (oncology institutes). The Ministry of Finance is providing around €960 million, with the rest coming from reallocations within the health budget and unspent funds from previous years.
Health Minister Ana Paula Martins explained that the funding is intended to prevent the SNS’s debt to suppliers from growing and ensure that bills are paid within 60 days. Xavier Barreto, head of the association of hospital administrators, believes the money will not plug the funding gap and that debts will continue to accumulate in 2027. The SNS is expected to end the year with a deficit of around €811 million. The ministry has not clarified whether this figure takes the new funding into account.
Patients will not see any direct impact: the money is going towards bills the SNS has already run up for medicines, diagnostic tests and hospital services.
