TO DEFINE what medical treatment a patient can demand free of charge based on the compulsory health insurance system is one of the most important measures which should be adopted within Slovakia’s health-care sector. Participants of a workshop held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the so-called Zajac health reform agreed upon this, the SITA newswire reported on September 25. Ten years after adopting the basic six laws reforming health care in Slovakia such a list does not exist.
“The basic triad is the title of the insuree for free medical treatment in the solidary system, i.e. what he or she should get from the solidary system when fully covered, what he or she does not have fully covered and what he or she should not have covered at all,” Rudolf Zajac, the then health minister and co-author of the reform said, as cited by SITA, adding that defining such a list is a base for all remaining issues regarding nominal insurance premiums or products.
Marian Faktor, a health expert for the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) added that as long as such a title is not clear and understandable, non-transparent fees will be present in health care.
The conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the health reform was organised by the Health Policy Institute launched by Zajac’s former advisors.
Tomáš Szalay, the founder of HPI, summed up that while the six reform laws were revised 144 times, no fundamental changes to the scheme were adopted.
“After 10 years it is possible to state that all of the then reform laws are valid until today,” Szalay wrote in the press release. “Most of the settings, institutions and tools have been kept until today. In spite of criticism, any alternative, maybe better, health-care system has not been formulated up to today.”
