THE JOINT stock company Veriteľ, which was set up by the state to clear old debts in health care, has completed debt-clearance procedures in the health care system, spending Sk19.3 billion (€515.39 million) in buying Sk33.5 billion worth of debt.
The agency saved Sk855 million of the funds available, the Hospodárske noviny newspaper wrote.
Veriteľ purchased and settled debts owed by hospitals to the tax authorities and pensions provider Sociálna poistovňa. The hospitals settled their obligations to Veriteľ by selling their receivables toward health insurers.
At the same time, Veriteľ provided insurance companies with loans to settle their debts to pharmacies and doctors. The insurers settled their debts to Veriteľ by selling receivables towards their non-payers.
"Veriteľ passed the claims it acquired against non-payers to the Slovenská konsolidačná debt-collection agency, which will now seek to recover them," said Finance Ministry spokesman Peter Papanek.
By the end of April, Slovenská konsolidačná is to take over 652,000 claims against 82,000 debtors.
