LOZ Requests Extraordinary Government Session on Supreme Audit Office's Findings

Bratislava, 21 November (TASR) - The Doctors Trade Union Association (LOZ) is calling for an extraordinary government meeting to discuss the findings of the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) as of April this year on the health-care funding system, LOZ head Peter Visolajsky told a press conference on Friday, adding that neither the government nor the Health Ministry responded to the NKU's summary report and haven't taken sufficient measures. "We expected the Health Ministry to take a clear stance on this issue. We called on the [Health] Minister [Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD)] during personal meetings, but to date there has been no response and no specific action on these findings. We therefore call on the government to do its job and defend the public interest in health care," said Visolajsky. According to him, the Supreme Audit Office has shown that hundreds of millions of euros get lost in the health-care sector, yet the government has increased contributions and is sending more money into the system. "If the government can't keep track of the money we put into health care, and NKU says that these funds mainly go to financial groups, then it has no moral right to ask for more money from the people," he added. According to the doctors trade union chairman, auditors identified the distribution of public funds by health insurance companies as the biggest problem. He also pointed out that smaller, often private facilities are given preferential treatment, while large state-owned faculty and university hospitals receive less than what corresponds to the complexity of their services. am