MP Asqat Aimagambetov has called for a review of medical procedures that generate extra costs for the state and create bureaucratic hurdles for patients. As a case in point, he cited mandatory hospitalization for re-confirming disability status, infohub.kz reports.

According to the MP, beyond inflated claims and fraud, the procedures themselves are often a cause of excessive spending.

"The state pays for what is not always necessary, while people lose time and run into bureaucracy. For example, in 2025 our committee raised the issue of mandatory hospitalization for re-confirming disability. These were cases where a person's condition is permanent and irreversible," Aimagambetov explained.

He asks: if hospitalization is not needed for treatment and gives experts no new information, why place a person in a hospital just to obtain a referral for a medical and social examination?

"But the person was forced to make an appointment with a doctor, take tests, obtain a referral, and queue up through the portal. Then they were admitted to hospital, where they underwent examinations and treatment again, even though there may have been no need for it," the MP noted.

According to him, for the budget and the OSMS system this means unnecessary spending. For the individual, it means lost time. For doctors, it means an added workload. For other patients, it means a longer wait for a hospital bed.

"We brought the issue up for discussion and, together with the ministries of health and labor, found a solution through amendments to subordinate legislation," he said.

In another example, the MP cited mandatory ECG, echocardiography and a cardiologist's consultation before admission to an oncology hospital, even in the absence of heart disease.

"In just one oncology center in Karaganda, about 17,000 hospitalizations are carried out every year. That means thousands of repeat tests, without which medical organizations face sanctions from the FSMS. Doctors themselves propose setting a validity period of several months for test results and conducting repeat tests only when medically indicated," he explained.

Aimagambetov stressed that simply moving a redundant procedure into electronic form will make it electronic, but will not make it any less redundant.

The MP noted that these issues in the healthcare system require reform and promised to work out the relevant solutions.

Aimagambetov had earlier raised the problem of access to invataxi for Kazakhstanis traveling to other regions for treatment.