Doctors worry about the situation of largest health insurer

The austerity measures planned for Slovakia's largest health insurance company Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa seek to transfer the insurance risk to hospitals and private clinics, claims the Association of Doctors with Private Practices in a letter sent to Prime Minister Robert Fico. They ask if the company has some objective justification for introducing this revival plan which implies savings in drugs and medical equipment costs and cuttings in the amount of healthcare services covered for its clients. The insurer plans to save €115 million this way in order to deal with its dire financial situation. Last year, the company officially reported a profit of €17.6 million, but the current management has said that it actually ended the year with a loss after revising the process of calculating and recording its technical reserve, with the loss estimated at being between €225 and €250 million. The Health Care Supervisory Office asked for a revival plan which the company submitted. Apart from cost-cutting, it also expects a financial injection of €150 million from the state budget.