No more fees at doctor's offices

On Wednesday the Parliament overrode the President's veto of a bill that seeks to eliminate fees for priority appointment at doctors. Health Minister Viliam Čislák said that work on the amendment took two years, and it will introduce clarity to fees at doctor's offices. "I want to emphasise that we've drawn up this bill based on input and requests from patients. They wanted to be clear on fees, on what they are and aren't supposed to pay for", said Čislák. Independent MP Viliam Novotný said that the governing Smer-SD party is now reluctant to admit it has erred in introducing the bill. "The bill was designed to bring order into the fees, yet it results in even bigger chaos. It's not scrapping fees, it's just changing their names", said Novotný. Under the bill, administrative fees such as fees for prescriptions and filling out sick leaves for patients will be banned, however it was the cancellation of the fee for fixed-term appointments that has stirred up public discontent as now patients won't be able to book a slot at the doctor's but will have to show up at the practice and wait for their turn.