A total of 239 billion crowns should go to health care next year, which is nine billion crowns more than this year. The add-up has been made possible by a higher collection of health insurance and one billion crowns come from health insurance companies.

"The decree on payments for treatments next year is pro-growth and it ensures the fulfilment of the priorities set, or the compensation of the abolished health care fees, the raising of salaries by 5 percent, and quality and available care," Nemecek said.

The fees per visit to a doctor, per day in hospital and per prescription in pharmacies were introduced by the rightist government in 2008. The current centre-left government decided to abolish them this year and to only keep 90 crowns per visit to extra-hours.

The decree sets the value of the point with which treatments and prevention are evaluated, the level of payments for health care services paid from public health insurance and regulatory limits.

Of the 10 billion crown add-up, 4.2 billion crowns are destined for the compensation of the abolished regulatory fees, 1.6 billion crowns for an increase in the payments for treatments in out-patient surgeries, 0.5 billion crowns in specialist centres and 3.8 billion crowns for bed care.

Nemecek said he could not fulfill all demands for which he would need another 50 billion crowns.

He said the employee health insurance companies have a balance of four billion crowns as from the years end and their reserve funds are filled. The largest, state-run General Insurance Company (VZP) has a zero balance and it did not fill its reserve fund this year. In the course of next year, it will repay half-a-billion crowns of a loan from the state.

Nemecek said the health insurance companies can spend more money on care because the collection of health insurance increased last year and further rise is expected next year too.

The companies will also use for health care 700 million crowns originally earmarked for their own operation and another 600 million crowns will go from their reserves.

Written by: TK http://www.ctk.cz

See the original post:

Czech health care to get 10 billion crowns more in 2015