UDZS Won't Regain Power to Impose Recovery Plan on Health Insurers

Bratislava, April 30 (TASR) - The Office for Supervision of Health Care (UDZS) won't regain the power to impose a recovery plan on health insurers, as the bill to that effect, sponsored by opposition lawmakers Jana Bitto Ciganikova and Tomas Szalay (both SaS), was turned down by Parliament on Tuesday. According to the submitters, the aim of the bill was to increase the responsibility of health insurers and ensure their long-term ability to cover health care for policyholders. Bitto Ciganikova claimed that the governing coalition is keeping the state-owned VsZP insurer as a cash machine for its political nominees. "The coalition increased the health levies by one billion euros because there is no money in the health system. It scrapped health benefits because there is no money in the health systems. But the money it has taken away will be handed over to authorities with millions in their accounts, which fail to do what they should," she declared, adding that in the past a recovery plan was a legal must for health insurers, whenever they wound up in situations jeopardising payments for the health care of policyholders. "What do we have UDZS for, when it lacks tools to put the health sector in order?" asked Szalay rhetorically. mf/mcs