ZAGREB, May 15, 2019 – Finance Minister Zdravko Marić on Wednesday said that it is obvious that the problem of the health sector debt cannot be resolved only on the revenue side of the health budget but that it requires intervention on the expenditure side too.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s meeting with wholesale pharmaceutical companies convened to discuss hospital debts for delivered medicines, Marić recalled that the Finance Ministry had already on several occasions made a contribution through extraordinary financial injections and by increasing the budget of the Croatian Health Insurance Institute by increasing health contributions on wages.
“The Ministry of Finance will always be a constructive partner in finding systematic solutions. We clearly showed our intentions on three occasions and participated on the revenue side. However, it is evident and being confirmed that the problem cannot be resolved only the revenue side but that it requires intervention on the cost side of the health budget,” Marić told reporters.
He added that according to the latest data, the health sector’s debts amount to more than seven billion kuna and that some hospitals have very long deadlines for payments.
Marić underscored that the problem of the health sector’s debts and payment deadlines have not emerged overnight and need to be observed in the long term, adding that he is convinced that the health sector has certain recommendations and solutions.
“The system needs to be observed as a whole. The financial aspect, the debts and payment deadlines cannot be simply brushed off, and tomorrow, we will discuss that and see whether we can work something out,” Marić said.
He added that compared with other countries, Croatia has a fairly high level of accessibility to health services and a very good and quality health service.
“The best confirmation and evidence of how good our doctors, nurses and medical staff are is the fact that they are quite sought after throughout the European Union,” he claimed and stressed that an additional problem is how to keep highly qualified staff in the country.
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