Health insurance fund head reports physician count rising to 496,000

Russia's compulsory health insurance system has 496,000 physicians in 2026, Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund head Ilya Balanin said. He put the 2025 figure at 481,000.

Balanin presented the figures at a State Duma plenary session on October 13. He said the number of mid-level medical personnel rose from 1.5 million last year to 1.9 million this year.

The fund head attributed the change to a coordinated government and regional approach to attracting staff. That is his assessment of the reasons for the increase, rather than a separate study measuring each policy's effectiveness.

The figures concern professionals providing care within the compulsory insurance system, rather than all healthcare workers nationwide. The report supplies no regional or specialty breakdown and does not establish that every medical institution's staffing shortage has been resolved.