28.5 billion lira payment to city hospitals in the first two months

Budget data regarding health expenditures has once again brought the scale of payments made to city hospitals operated under the public-private partnership model to the agenda.

According to the table regarding the activity classification of the 2026 budget expenditures of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Türkiye, 28 billion 550 million lira was paid in the first two months of the year under the item "Activities for Health Facilities Built with the Public-Private Partnership Model." This item covers rent and service fee payments made to 18 city hospitals operating across Türkiye.

While the ministry's budget table for the same period shows a total expenditure of 174.8 billion lira for treatment services, payments to city hospitals constituted a significant share within this item.

City hospitals are built and operated under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, similar to build-operate-transfer. In this model, while hospitals are built by private companies, the state makes rent and service fee payments spread over many years.

On the other hand, the budget data also brought the debate on social expenditures to the fore. The government had justified the decision not to increase the holiday bonus paid to approximately 17 million retirees by citing budget balances. According to calculations by economists, the annual cost of a 1,000 lira increase in the bonus is stated to be approximately 17 billion lira.