Private hospitals and insurers profit at the state’s expense

Hospitals’ profits and losses reflect differences in payments from health insurers, points out the Value for Money unit. State-owned VšZP pays private hospitals more than private insurers (32% more than Dôvera), thus enabling both private hospitals and private insurers to make profits. The unit’s analysis found public hospitals, especially those managed by regions’ VÚCs, to be the most cost-effective. They receive €6.3m less per year for the same care as private hospitals. A major issue is the low transparency of financing, when insurers and hospitals negotiate terms every year and their contracts are opaque. Doctors’ unions are demanding a change, and the government has already promised more transparent reporting of data on hospital financing.

(sita.sk)