The state-owned health insurance company, Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa, which expects a record loss this year, will need a financial injection of €150 million, according to its general director Miroslav Kočan. He expects the company's final loss for the year to be between €225 and €250 million. Last Friday the company submitted a revival plan to the Health Care Supervisory Office under which the insurer plans to save more than €115 million through self-imposed austerity cuts. Following the introduction of austerity measures, the loss should drop to €180 million. The bulk of the money is to be saved in the area of health-care procurement, with costs slated to be slashed by 3 percent year-on-year. A total of €39.5 million is to be saved through measures relating to medication, €24 million through streamlined quality control and €21 million via changes to procurement processes, for example.
"The additional financing for Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa very much depends on a boost in financing for the sector. Specific sums for additional funding for the sector in general and this company in particular will be the subject of talks between the Health Ministry and the Finance Ministry," said Health Ministry spokesperson Stanislava Luptakova. The largest health insurer on the market has been in the red since August 2016, when it revised the process of calculating and recording its technical reserves. 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. The former general director Miroslav Vadura denies any wrongdoings.
