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Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company) will increase payments for hospitals by €3.8 million monthly. The amount will be divided into particular hospitals after separate negotiations with each of them. It will depend on the individual impact of increased wages of doctors and nurses on hospital's costs. Increase is covered from €50 million governmental reserve in the state budget.
Ministry of Health plans the change in the system of purchasing of vaccines. Currently doctors have to purchase them by themselves. Until December they were delivered to doctors for particular patients by pharmacies and afterwards they were reimbursed by the health insurance company. Doctors in January called for declaration of emergency state, lately they agreed with Ministry on the simplification and elimination of some administrative barriers. In summer Ministry plans to open the act on pharmaceuticals and incorporate the mentioned change into it. Doctors would no longer have to finance the vaccines.
In the case of no increasing of payments for outpatient clinics in connection with the act on wages of nurse, it could according to the head of Slovak Medical Chamber, Marian Kollár, come to the extinction of some of them. He pointed out that outpatient clinics have deep under-financed payments for particular performances. According to Kollár this might in short time cause the closing of outpatient clinics in the case that there will not be such contracts with insurance companies, which could help them to survive. Chamber is reportedly ready to participate not only on the preparation, but also on the support of all proposals and solutions.
Bardejov Spa was last year visited by 17 021 persons, of which 44% were self-paying clients and 56% of clients were reimbursed by the insurance companies. Average length of the stay was 13.6 days. Most of the visitors were from Slovakia, followed by the clients from Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Austria and other countries. In this year Spa prepared for the visitors new attractions, rich cultural and social program and again invested into the reconstructions of the housing facilities. Bardejov Spa is currently allegedly one of the best-equipped medical institutions.
Slovak hospitals associated under the company Svet zdravia are from 2011 the recipients of humanitarian aid from the Order of the Knights of Malta from Switzerland. Slovak health institutions can also in the future count on further presents in the form of adjustable beds of furniture. Representative of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Guido Stöcklio, in these days visited the health institutions in Zemplín including hospital in Vranov, where he examined the use of humanitarian aid directly in the field. Hundreds of shipments in recent years went from Switzerland also to other countries.
Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company) suspects Dôvera from unfair acquisition of policyholders. VšZP is therefore preparing the suggestion to the Healthcare Surveillance Authority. This should examine several cases from recent days, when private health insurance company Dôvera allegedly did not act correctly. The latest case comes from Trnava. If the errancy in the process of sale is proved, Dôvera will according to the spokeswoman consider the adoption of corrective action.
Minister of Health chose Adam Hlôška for the position of the head of Pharmacy and pharmaceutical policy section. She also installed him into the function of President of Categorization Committee for Pharmaceuticals. In this position he was in 2008-2010 and then he returned to the pharmaceutical company Abbot Laboratories. Former Minister of Health Ivan Uhliarik points to a possible conflict of interests. Spokeswoman of the Ministry claims that in the case of any suspicion of favouritism of some pharmaceutical company, Minister will intervene immediately.
Union Health Insurance Company started on Wednesday according to the amendment to the act on health insurance companies to pay the overpayments for pharmaceuticals. The claim for overpayments for pharmaceuticals for first quarter of this year accrued for 2 848 policyholders in total amount of € 62 866. This is money that pensioners and disabled people paid in first quarter of this year for pharmaceuticals over the limit. The limit includes all pharmaceuticals, which are partially covered by health insurance company.
Doctors and nurses refused the preparation of new common law for health care employees, as well as the possible merging of acts on wages of doctors and nurses. As was noted by the head of Medical Trade Union, Peter Visolajský, he does not know anybody concerned, who would be interested in merging of acts. Therefore he appealed to Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská to stop the work on common law. President of Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, Mária Lévyová, approved that nurses are not identified with such plans.
Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská called out Rudolf Lintner from the function of director of Faculty hospital in Trenčín. According to the spokeswoman of Ministry of Health Zuzana Čižmáriková the reason was also the ever-increasing debts of the hospital. Minister wants, according to spokeswoman, in the team of directors of state hospitals firstly the managers who know how to do also non-popular decisions leading to stabilization of hospitals and to progressive reduction of debts of hospitals.