Dolinkova: It Wasn't Health Ministry That Cancelled Insurance Dental Benefits

Bratislava, April 17 (TASR) - The decision to scrap insurance benefits wasn't made by the Health Ministry, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Voice-SD) declared on Wednesday. Dolinkova spoke in response to criticism from opposition's SaS party, which advocated the preservation of dental benefits for policyholders. "The benefits were nixed by health insurance companies or, more precisely, it was a joint decision by the Slovak Health Insurers Association," claimed Dolinkova, adding that the initiative has originated from the Finance Ministry. "The benefits were financed with the money allocated for the provision of health care. Hence, the more benefits the less money left for hospitals, outpatient departments and drugs," explained Dolinkova. The Health Ministry plans to open a dialogue on new benefits structure and wants to find other motivational factors to increase the number of preventive health checkups. As of May, the provision of dental benefits by health insurers will be scrapped. According to the Health Ministry, the dental benefits have fulfilled their educative purpose and it's necessary to seek new benefits. mf