Slovenia adopts temporary measures to speed up long-term care system

Slovenia’s Državni zbor has adopted the Zakon o začasnih ukrepih za učinkovitejše izvajanje sistema dolgotrajne oskrbe (ZZUUIDO), a set of temporary measures to speed up procedures and ease the administrative burden in the long-term care system until 31 December 2027. The law was published in the Uradni list Republike Slovenije no. 1508/2026 of 26 September 2026 and enters into force the day after publication. It was promulgated by decree no. 003-02-1/2026-192, issued by President Nataša Pirc Musar on 26 September 2026.

The law, adopted in Ljubljana on 18 September 2026 and signed by National Assembly President Zoran Stevanović, departs from specific provisions of the Zakon o dolgotrajni oskrbi (ZDOsk-1), its amendment ZDOsk-1B and the ZUOPCSD. Its stated purpose is to optimise individual procedures, relieve providers and entry points of administrative work and ensure the uninterrupted exercise of long-term care rights and services. The measures in Articles 2 to 11 apply until 31 December 2027.

Faster procedures and less paperwork

• Entry points must issue a decision ex officio within eight days of receiving notice that a family carer’s tasks have ceased.
• The plan of recommended services is abolished and is no longer an annex to the decision on long-term care rights.
• A personal plan may still be concluded after three or six months, and no decision terminating the right is issued if the beneficiary fails to conclude it within that period.
• Users and providers may change the range or frequency of services within the same care category without signing an annex, recorded in writing by the provider.
• Re-assessment is carried out immediately and as a priority when a provider reports a significant change; the provider’s multidisciplinary team must have at least three members, covering social work, nursing and rehabilitation or related fields.
• Providers may contract sole proprietors when the necessary staff cannot be secured through employment contracts.

Beds, e-care and directors

Providers must reserve substitute-care beds according to size: one bed up to 300 beds, two for 301 to 400, three for 401 to 600, four for 601 to 800 and five above 800. Claims go to ZZZS quarterly, by the 20th of the month after each quarter, with payment within 30 days. Entitlement to e-care services is extended to 31 December 2027, and the conditions for appointing a director of a public long-term care institute revert to social welfare and health regulations.

Equalisation of payments from 1 October 2026

Residents of institutional care admitted since 1 December 2025, placed in at least care category II and insured for long-term care are entitled, from 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2027, to have their payments equalised with long-term care users, but no longer than until the decision on the right to long-term care becomes enforceable. The equalisation is calculated as the difference between the care day amount multiplied by the number of charged care days and the attendance allowance, the basic price of accommodation and food, and any diet charge. Providers claim reimbursement monthly from ZZZS through a joint claim filed by the 30th of the month for the previous month; claims filed more than six months late are rejected. A credit note covering payments made between 1 December 2025 and 30 September 2026 is also provided, with a single claim to be filed by 28 February 2027.

Pay supplement and new billing day

Employees of institutional providers delivering long-term care services, basic or social care, nursing or rehabilitation receive a supplement of 300 euros gross per month for full-time work from 1 October 2026 to 31 December 2027; other employees, except public servants in pay group B, receive 150 euros. The same amounts apply to home care providers and family assistance services, where ZZZS reimburses 375 euros for every 95 hours of long-term care at home or 110 hours of family assistance actually delivered. In the same period, ZZZS pays providers for services and coordination by the long-term care billing day per user, according to the care category; the minister sets the value by decision, and until new values are set the lump-sum values in force on 30 September 2026 apply. ZZZS must publish payment instructions within 30 days of the law’s entry into force.

The law directly affects care homes, home care providers, residents and those who pay for them, and it fixes the financial and procedural framework of the long-term care system for the next 15 months.

Source: Uradni list Republike Slovenije, no. 1508/2026, 26 September 2026, section I, p. 1-10 (official reference: 2026-01-2168).