On Wednesday, the Cabinet approved the long-disputed draft revision to the law on health insurance companies. According to the draft, as of next year, the cap on administrative costs of health insurance companies will be lowered to three percent of collected premiums, from the current four percent. The bill also orders health insurers to spend their entire profit on the settlement of health care. The bill, however, faces objections from employers as well as private health insurance companies. "This is a principal issue for us, as fundamental as the Labor Code was," stated Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The prime minister explained that the Cabinet's goal is to return a public-service character to the health insurance system. "We want private health insurers to collect money from people for health insurance only," said Mr. Fico. According to him, profit made by private health insurance companies cannot remain in their hands, but has to return to the health care system. He expects "significant savings," that will be used by the health sector, to be generated by setting the cap on insurers' administrative costs.
The prime minister also said that based on the Cabinet resolution, the Health Minister is working on a project of merging Vseobecna Zdravotna Poistovna with Spolocna Zdravotna Poistovna. "We are looking into the advantages and disadvantages, and based on these, we will make a decision in the future," said Mr. Fico.
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