The Health Ministry wants to discuss its project to create a single public health insurance company in Slovakia with social partners at the Economic and Social Council (HSR) and only then submit its project to the cabinet. According to the schedule drawn up by the ministry, the cabinet should have decided on the project last week. Despite this delay, the Health Ministry has said that the deadlines for the introduction of a unitary system of public health insurance are not at risk.
"This is a serious social change, and we will not go into any hasty decisions. Everything has to be properly discussed," said Health Minister Zuzana Zvolenská, as quoted by the SITA newswire. Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Čižmáriková said that the project would be submitted to the cabinet after October 30, the date of the planned HSR meeting. She said that if the cabinet decides to proceed, the next task would be to establish a 'society for unitarisation' to represent the state in the process of changing the system of public health insurance. As well as the existing state health insurer, two private companies also currently operate in the public health insurance market in Slovakia; they would be excluded, possibly via expropriation by the state, if the government continues with its plans to create a single health insurer.
According to the schedule, the Health Ministry would create the proposed society at the end of November of this year, SITA wrote on Wednesday, October 24. At the same time it would also start tendering for legal and consultancy services related to the project.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
