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Tag: legislation
Minister of Health Zuzana Zvolenská plans to introduce the intention of implementation of unific health insurance system on today's meeting of Government. There are several legislation possibilities for the creation of one health insurance company in Slovakia. Members of Government should today also nominate new President of Healthcare Surveillance Authority. Current President Ján Gajdoš gave up this function.
Ministry of Health has already submitted to Government its intention to create one health insurance company. This material outlines various ways how this change could take place. It does not, however, indicate how much might this transaction cost. It talks only about “reasonable compensation”, which the shareholders of private health insurance companies should get. According to the spokeswoman of the Minister, Zuzana Čižmáriková, the deeper analysis will follow after approving of initial material by the Government.
Nurses are asking the members of Parliament and Government for crisis scenario for the case, if the Constitutional Court declared the act on their wages as unconstitutional or would decide on this legal standard for too long. This requirement was today interpreted on the meeting of Parliamentary Health Committee by the President of the Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives, Viliam Záborský. Representatives of nurses are also asking for immediate legislation measures, which will stop the employers by dividing of the duties of nurses to nurses and administrative stuff.
Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives has on Monday turned to the Chairman of the Parliament Pavol Paška. They asked him for a cooperation and coordination of all activities connected with the proceedings on the Constitutional Court. As the Chamber is not a participant of the proceeding, it offered Paška the legal and technical cooperation. According to her Presiden, Chamber wants the act on minimum wage claims of nurses to be considered as soon as possible and adjudicated as valid and in accordance with the Constitution.
Minister of Health, Zuzana Zvolenská, wants to present the intention to create one health insurance company in Slovakia in very short time and she did not exclude that it will happen next week. How concretely could this issue be solved, however, the head of department did not want specified. She only admitted that one of the possibilities is the buying-out of private health insurance companies. But there still may be more options.
Ministry of Health plans to implement the rules for the export of pharmaceuticals from Slovakia and prevent thus the reexport of pharmaceuticals abroad. Minister for now did not say how concretely should be the export of pharmaceuticals abroad adjusted. She, however, indicated that there might be an approval required by exporting. In the times of former Government the producers and suppliers of pharmaceuticals already warned of the problems with reexport of pharmaceuticals. It was facilitated by their low price due to the tightening of the referencing of prices of pharmaceuticals.
Nurses are considering the protesting marches, mass work stoppage or notices. This way they want to react to the decision of Constitutional Court, which suspended the force of the act increasing the salaries of nurses. Initiative to the Constitutional Court was submitted by Slovak Medical Chamber. Council of the Trade union of nurses, which will today negotiate in Bratislava, will finally decide on the reaction to the decision of the Constitutional Court.
Member of Parliament Daniel Lipšic criticized the intention of Prime Minister Robert Fico to merge the private health insurance companies with state Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa (General Health Insurance Company). According to him the out-buying of the health insurance company Dôvera would be suitable for Penta, its owner. He claims that without fair competition between several interested parties it is impossible to achieve the real market valuation of Dôvera. This creates a huge space for backstage agreements, corruption and provisions. According to him, this move would be a present for Dôvera shareholders.
The Constitutional Court on its Wednesday closed session adopted the proposal of Deputy of General Attorney to review the constitutionality of the act on minimum wage claims of nurses and midwives. Constitutional Court also granted his request and suspended the force of legal standard, which from April brought higher wages to nurses and midwives. Nurses are disappointed from this decision.
Slovak Pharmaceutical Chamber submitted the comments to several acts to Minister of Health, Zuzana Zvolenská, who is preparing the amendments to the health legislation. As absolutely most important Chamber considers the legislative ban of pharmacy networks, no bonuses by issuing of prescription pharmaceuticals and mandatory complying with particular price rules by the amendment to the act on pharmaceuticals, increasing of criteria for professional competency or repeated introducing of specialization from pharmaceutics as the condition for managing of pharmacy.
