Threat of patient payments averted – for now

State-run health insurer and association representing outpatient departments say they will continue to seek a deal.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: SITA)

People with health insurance from state-run health insurer Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP) will not have to pay for non-emergency medical care from April 1, it has been announced.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

They had been facing having to pay for medical treatment other than urgent care in outpatient departments and surgeries after VšZP and the Association of Outpatient Providers (ZAP) – an umbrella organisation for 1,700 outpatient departments and surgeries in Slovakia - failed to reach a deal on financing health care.

SkryťTurn off ads

Outpatient departments and surgeries had been demanding more money for patient treatment and without a deal patients would have had to pay for medical care provided by their general practitioner, eye specialist or paediatrician from April 1, unless they had required urgent treatment.

Urgent treatment includes situations where one’s health condition worsens rapidly to the point that basic life functions are threatened, such as birth or an examination; the diagnostics and treatment of a person considered to be the source of a rapidly spreading and life-threatening disease, according to the law.

But with March drawing to close, ZAP and VšZP have now agreed that they will try to reach a deal in the coming days and VšZP has said its clients will not face any changes in financing of their healthcare on April 1, as reported by the SITA newswire.

SkryťTurn off ads

On the contrary, the doctors associated in the Alliance of General Practitioners (AVLS) were successful in making a deal with VšZP, valid until the end of 2022. This means that their patients will not have to pay for provided treatment.

The ministry changes the criticised manner of prescribing medications Read more 

Patients will learn about whether they will pay only after visiting the outpatient department or surgery. Every doctor needs to have the list of health insurers with which they have signed an agreement by their door.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský (OĽaNO nominee) said he planned to meet with the VšZP head Richard Strapko to discuss the situation, the TASR newswire reported. The outcome of this meeting is not known.

The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.sk
Subscribe now for full access

I already have subscription - Sign in

Subscription provides you with:
  • Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk
  • Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail)
  • PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper, The Slovak Spectator, emailed directly to you
  • Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk

Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad