The Economic and Social Council, comprising the government, unions and employers, has not agreed to the government’s project to create a single health insurer in Slovakia. The trade unions, however, did back the plan, the SITA newswire reported.
“The presented proposal does not guarantee higher quality provision of health care, or secure the effectiveness of its financing; [moreover] from our point of view the suggestion pointlessly monopolises the health insurance system as well,” said Martin Hošták, the secretary of the National Union of Employers (RÚZ), as quoted by SITA.
The Federation of Employers’ Associations (AZZZ) would agree with the government’s plans only if the new health insurer were to be a public institution and its supervisory bodies created on the tripartite principle, according to the head of the Association of Private Doctors, Ladislav Pásztor. Guarantees of quality and the availability of health care would be taken over by a new association of providers of health care.
“The third basic requirement is that the solvency of the new subject would be guaranteed by the state,” Pásztor added, as quoted by SITA.
Trade unionists, on the other hand, welcomed the plan for a single insurer, saying they consider it a project with both strong and weak points. Though it is still not clear which advantages the insurer will bring to patients and how much it will cost, they approved the intention “to effectively use the resources which are collected for health insurers through this system”, said Miroslav Gazdík, the head of the Confederation of the Trade Unions (KOZ).
Health Minister Zuzana Zvolenská has asserted that a single health insurer would improve the health-care system in Slovakia.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
