“Most of senior citizens of Kyrgyzstan have to pay for medical services,” Igor Litvinov, representative of ARDA-Kyrgyzstan told at the panel discussion in the Health Care Ministry Friday.

According to Kyrgyz legislation seniors who have reached the age of 70 years old should be relieved of payments for any medical service. “In fact, seniors do pay to doctors and often for insignificant procedures such as electrocardiogram,” Litvinov said.

Meantime, Baktygul Isaeva, a top specialist of the obligatory medical insurance fund says that seniors older 70 years old get medical services for free, except for expensive medications. “However, they should have a special referral from the family doctor,” she said.