Czech patients will pay more for top-up services - minister

At present, patients´ cash payments make up 17 percent of the overall treatment costs. Patients pay some 40 billion crowns out of the overall costs of 250 billion, Heger said.

He wants to introduce patients´ cash payments for dental filling. He says people can avert tooth decay by cleaning their teeth carefully and undergoing preventive check-ups.

Heger also wants to raise the fees patients pay for a day spent in hospital to 100 crowns from the present 60.

He wants patients to fully cover cheap medicines with prices below 50 crowns.

He said about a half of patients´ financial co-participation, some 20 billion crowns, has been spent on food complements and vitamins. If it is increased, it will affect this luxury treatment more, Heger said.

A typical example is that of dental filling. If patients pay for it in cash instead of having them covered from insurance, the system will save two billion crowns in favour of seriously and chronically ill patients on whose treatment seven billion crowns is spent annually now, Heger said.

David Rath, shadow health minister from the opposition Social Democratic Party (CSSD), challenged the idea of healthy teeth being achieved by tooth cleaning alone.

"Common dental filling is no luxury, you want to punish people for failing, in their childhood, to learn cleaning their teeth correctly," Rath said.

Staying in hospital is no luxury either, nor are medicines with prices below 50 crowns, he added.

If the insurance coverage is lifted from cheap medicines, pharmaceutical producers will start making bigger packagings instead of small. This will cost health insurers more, while patients will not use all medicines and they will throw more of them in dustbins, Rath said.

Where it comes to the planned cash payments for dental filling, Rath said people will cease to go to dentists, will neglect their dental care, will suffer from periostitis and some will unnecessarily die of sepsis.

He said this is the case in some countries where patients´ cash payments for dental filling has been introduced.

Heger called Rath´s opinion exaggerated and said dental filling is a good example of a measure that will involve all and bring money to the health system.

Insurers would continue covering the filling for children, elderly people and patients with diseases provoking tooth decay.

Cash payments for dental filling was one of the things on which coalition parties´ negotiations on the health reform bogged down earlier this week.

The idea met with the opposition of the junior government Public Affairs (VV). Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) threatened to sack the VV from the government unless it supports Heger´s draft reform.

The coalition negotiations will continue in the days to come.

Heger today said the health system will be short of 2 billion crowns this year, a sum that goes to doctors´ increased pay. Next year the system will be short of 10 billion crowns, therefore reform measures are necessary, he said.

He said he also wants to gain some money through redistribution of money among selected health insurance companies.

($1=17.238 crowns)

rtj/dr

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz