Parliament Votes Down Bill Aimed to Prevent Foisting Health Costs Upon Patients

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - Parliament turned down a bill, sponsored by opposition KDH, which was supposed to make sure that costs related to health care management can't be foisted upon patients. The bill's submitters had pointed out that even though the current legislation bans doctors from charging fees for giving specific-time appointments to patients, in practice the ban is often circumvented by having third parties charge the patients. The upshot is that patients often have to pay fees to privately-owned internet websites to get their specific-time appointments. Peter Stachura, one of the submitters, didn't like the fact that the coalition abstained from the vote and part of the opposition didn't vote for the bill either. He expects the coalition to come up with its own solution to tackle the fees in the near future, seeing as he finds the current situation unsustainable. mf/mcs