—
Tag: financing
Completion of wide Bratislava hospital complex Rázsochy is according to member of Parliament for SDKÚ-DS, Viliam Novotný, inefficient and means defenestration of € 500 million in the situation when healthcare system desperately needs the resources. He admitted that Bratislava hospitals are serving out and it will be necessary to replace them. But he also added that for € 500 million, what are the costs on the completion of hospital Rázsochy it will be possible to build 8 new hospitals. According to Novotný this project will only fill the pockets of sponsors of Smer-SD.
Private doctors do not want to send the documents on issued sick-calls to Social Insurance Company electronicaly, but prefer traditional mail. They claim that they will fill in the formulares through internet only in case if the social insurance company pay them for it. Workers of Social Insurance Company are transcribing the documents from doctors into the computers manually for now. From begining of May the Social Insurance Company started the operation of electronical transmission of documents. Only small number of doctors expressed the interest in this form. For example in Trenčín region there are only 10% of them.
Former head of state General Health Insurance Company (Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa - VšZP), Marian Faktor, received in April, short time before his departure, the bonus in amount of € 14 229. According to the spokeswoman of the insurance company, under contract on his function the variable component of the bonus for performance of function depending on reaching profit of insurance company in 2011 was paid to him. In approximately 19 months of his function Factor earned totally about € 220 000. He had a monthly salary in amount of € 6 500 and the bonus € 3 220 for holding of the function of Chairman of the Board of Directors. Besides that he received 3 bonuses.
Using of € 50 million reserve will not solve the crisis situation with increasing of healthcare professionals salaries permanently. Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská is, despite this fact, not afraid of the problems with planned July and January increasing of salaries of doctors. There will be, according to her, enough money for it. Salaries should be covered by higher payments for state policyholders or the stricter regulation of the profits of health insurance companies. Ministry plans to tighten up and modify the conditions, under which the insurance companies may keep their profits.
Head of the Ministry of Health Zuzana Zvolenská will monitor the use of the €50 million reserve which she plans to use for the salaries of nurses and doctors. She pronounced it after the negotiation with the representatives of healthcare employers. According to her the Ministry will verify, whether these resources are really used for fulfilling the law which sets the costs on salaries. As she further informed, any negative feedback from the field will be immediately solved by MoH on individual level.
Restrictions of the profit of health insurance companies might not bring any effect. Thanks to accounting operations the insurance companies may have shed millions of euros from collected premiums to their shareholders without breaking the law. Such step is to be found in the accounting of the private insurance company Dôvera. Company got the approval for this from the former management of the Healthcare Surveillance Authority.
Professional, trade union and corporative organizations in health care system increased their demands for additional financing from the state budget through higher payments for state policyholders (children, unemployed, elderly). While last month the Association of Hospitals in Slovakia and Slovak Medical Union of Specialists asked the payments on the level of at least 5% of the average wage, now all of the organizations are together asking the state for rising the payments to 5.5% next year (in 2012 the payment is 4%).
Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská plans to start another round of negotiations with healthcare employers on the nurses' salary issue. At the negotiating table she should meet with the Association of Faculty Hospitals, Association of Hospitals in Slovakia, trade unionists and the representatives of private doctors. The exact date of the meeting is not known yet.
Pharmaceutical companies warn that new redistribution of pharmaceuticals from July will bring higher additional surcharges for patients. They note that while insurance companies will pay less, the surcharges of the patient might in some cases increase by 600%. Ministry of Health was surprised by the reaction of pharmaceutical companies.
Minister of Health agreed with insurance companies that they will give money from € 50 million reserve in state budget in full amount to the hospitals and outpatient clinics, which need them to cover the higher wages of healthcare professionals. State, however, can not force private insurance companies Dôvera and Union to forward all apportioned money to health care providers. State has such a power only in case of state owned Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company). Minister thus received from the association of insurance companies only the verbal promises. The written agreement in the form of common memorandum is being prepared.
