A further €1.6 billion is to be allocated for debt relief to state-run hospitals, the Slovak Hospitals Association (ANS) stated on Tuesday, adding that the Health Ministry is submitting this amount to the Sectoral Economic and Social Council for discussion on Tuesday.
According to ANS, another round of debt relief would further deepen the long-standing problem of hospitals receiving unequal treatment.
"State-run hospitals will once again be favoured, while our regional hospitals are criticised for being better funded. However, non-state hospitals are far from enjoying the same benefits as their state-run counterparts, which don't have to pay contributions to social-insurer Socialna poistovna (SP), pay suppliers on time and, more than that, the state even reimburses them for the installation of air-conditioning units," said ANS president Marian Petko.
According to ANS, the 2024 memorandum between the Doctors Trade Union Association (LOZ) and the Health Ministry is one of the main causes of the situation.
"Paradoxically, under the memorandum, the state undertook to ensure that changes to the programme decree wouldn't lead to further hospital debt accumulation. But as we can see, that hasn't been the case. Quite the opposite: the debts of state-run hospitals continue to grow," said Petko.
ANS has again called for expert discussions to result in legislative changes that would end the preferential treatment of state-run hospitals and prevent them from accumulating further debt.
"We've long supported stabilising the health-care workforce and high-quality, accessible health care for all patients, but the solutions must be sustainable for the system as a whole," added Petko.
Source: TASR
