Micieta: Health-care System in Slovakia Needs to be Immediately Reformed

Bratislava, September 12 (TASR) – Health-care spending in Slovakia lags behind the European Union average, according to a study presented on Tuesday by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Slovakia in cooperation with partners. The document offers several proposals for changing the system of financing by increasing the payment for the persons insured by the state, introducing a socially acceptable co-payment and supplementary insurance. "The health-care system must be reformed without delay," said AmCham Health-care Committee chairman Vladimir Micieta. Health-care financing is largely based on contributions from the economically active population but the absolute number of contributors will, according to an analyst, decrease in the next half century. "If we assume a linear dependence between the number of economically active people and levy income, then in today's prices this would mean a decrease in levy income of approximately €290 million per year in 2030 and €1,240 million per year in 2060," said Martin Vlachynsky from the Economic and Social Studies Institute (INESS). A publication called 'Why don't we live in good health until retirement?' analyses the results of health-care systems compared to their health-care expenditure. Advanced Western European systems and V4 (Visegrad Four) countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) were evaluated. "In the results of the evaluation, Slovakia and Poland share the second to last place, Hungary ended up last. The Czech Republic performed the best of the V4 countries and is the closest to advanced health-care systems," stated analyst Henrieta Tulejova from the Advance Institute. Tulejova added that the evaluation showed that higher spending on health-care also brings more affordable treatment, a longer and healthier life, and a higher score in the evaluation. "Slovakia has the lowest per capita spending among the compared countries, a total of €2 billion less than in the Czech Republic. It is possible and necessary to increase health-care spending by at least €1 billion by increasing the state payment to the level of 5.5 percent, also by uniform regulation of fees in outpatient departments to a socially acceptable co-payment and the introduction of additional insurance," she stated. am/mcs