The expert spoke about the preferences of Russians when choosing social services.

Currently, a number of categories of citizens have the right to receive NSO (a set of social services), the most numerous of which are people with disabilities of all groups and children with disabilities. Marina Kartseva, Deputy director of the INSAP Center of the IPEI Presidential Academy, stated this in an interview with Izvestia, confirming the importance of drug provision.

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"The main reason for refusing free medicines is the physical barriers to obtaining them. Almost half of them refuse because the necessary medicines are not available in pharmacies or their supply is limited. Queues and the difficulty of prescribing prescriptions become a barrier for 23%," says Marina Kartseva.

In addition to medicines, this form of social support includes sanatorium-resort treatment and free travel on suburban and intercity railway transport.

It is worth noting that interest in in-kind support is growing: if in 2017 about half of beneficiaries chose monetary compensation, then by 2023 only 37%, and 56% already received free medicines, the expert noted.

She also added that a possible reason for the transition from monetary compensation to in kind is a significant increase in drug prices, overtaking the growth of retirement incomes of citizens — the main source of income for the elderly.

Earlier, the Social Fund stated that by October 1, 2025, Russians eligible for federal benefits and support measures must determine exactly how they want to receive a set of social services — in kind or monetary compensation.

Read more about this in the Izvestia article:

Personal choice: what changes await beneficiaries from October