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Shortening of the operation of outpatient emergency services would allegedly decrease the availability and quality of providing of general outpatient health care. On the contrary it would increase the costs of health insurance companies on continuous ensuring of health care. This is the conclusion of the October workshop of the Association of Medical First Aid Providers. Association claims that people would this way lose the current certainty by health protection, which is set by the law.

Introducing of new payment mechanism, DRG system, does not follow the plan. Healthcare Surveillance Authority is allegedly not able to meet the deadlines agreed with German company InEK. Project is practically still at the beginning and whole schedule has to be forwarded. For all that, in July the Healthcare Surveillance Authority has informed that from January 2013 the live operation of the DRG system should be launched. The resources should have been according to optimists divided among hospitals through the new system in 2014. 

Management of Central Military Hospital in Ružomberok has approved the considered reducing of staff. From the beginning of December the 1500-member team of the largest employer in Ružomberok will be reduced by almost 120 administrative workers. The only reason of announced layoffs is, according to the spokesman of the hospital, the effort to streamline the operation of the hospital and reach the more balanced financing. 

On Wednesday was supported project of one insurance company by the Ministers from Fico's Government. Government for now approved only a project of implementation and adopted one comment. The schedule should be in first two points forwarded in two weeks. Ministry will only now start to prepare the concrete acts. They should, according to the schedule, enter into force in May next year. 

Intention of Government to create one health insurance company is probably unconstitutional, economically disadvantageous and against the patients. This was agreed by the leaders of People's Platform (Ľudová platforma), Ján Figeľ (KDH), Pavol Frešo (SDKÚ-DS) a Béla Bugár (Most-Híd). If Smer will realize its intention, opposition will according to Bugár turn to Constitutional Court. Leaders pointed out, that social democrats already in the past adopted the measures, which the Court described as unconstitutional. It was, beside others, the ban of profit of health insurance companies. 

Cancelling of networks of pharmacies through the amendment to the act on pharmaceuticals, which is currently in Parliament, the company Mirakl, owner of Dr. Max pharmacies, considers as a form of expropriation. Company considers this proposal as an indirect form of expropriation, as it makes the entrepreneur, which provides several pharmacies, to give up of all of them except one. Amendment to the act enables the providing of only one public pharmacy plus one branch of public pharmacy. 

Representatives of employers do not agree with the plan of Government to move to unitary system of health insurance, what means creating of one health insurance company. Proposal, according to them, does not guarantee the higher quality of providing of health care, ensuring of effectiveness of its financing and anyway this proposal needlessly monopolizes the system of health insurance. Material will thus go to the negotiation of the Government with contradictions. 

Discussion on improving of the situation in Slovak healthcare system should be according to the Association of Health Insurance Companies opened especially in the question of using of resources, which are directed into the system. The intention of the Government to cancel the health insurance companies is according to the President of the Association, Katarína Kafková, only a camouflage for damping of the discussion on control of finances in the system. As she also mentioned, the amounts assigned for the payments for health care are increasing every year, but patients do not feel the flow of money and therefore the key question is effectiveness of their use.  

Slovak healthcare professionals, as well as their colleagues from V4 countries, will come out in front of their hospitals at the end of November to point to problems in healthcare system. Doctors together with other healthcare professionals will gather in front of selected hospitals for five minutes. Representatives of Medical Trade Union did not specify yet, in which hospitals in Slovakia and which day this event will take place. 

Representatives of Medical Trade Union are asking the Government for the legislation guarantee of the third increasing of salaries from January 1, 2013. They are, for all that, not against the dividing of third increasing of salaries for longer period of time. According to the head of the Medical Trade Union, they insist on the legislation guaranty. Problem is, according to him, unreal conditions of Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská, which should go along with this increasing.