LOZ: New Health Bills Aim to Enforce Compliance with Legislation

Bratislava, January 28 (TASR) - The aim of the bills, drafted in the wake of a deal clinched between the government and the Doctors Labour Union (LOZ), is to ensure compliance with the legislation already in effect, LOZ head Peter Visolajsky declared on Tuesday. Visolajsky spoke in response to a criticism of the bills raised by the medical section of the Employers Association (AZZZ), which Visolajsky perceives as the AZZZ's play for the media. The LOZ head underlined that in case of the AZZZ a potential conflict of interest might exist and if the bills don't get passed as agreed, thousands of doctors will leave hospitals en masse. Visolajsky stated that represented in the AZZZ are mostly hospitals owned by financial groups. "Therefore, let's not be surprised by their statements because the bills set to come into Parliament, which we negotiated with the [health] minister, are designed to bring more transparency and order into the financing of hospitals and that, of course, is not really to the benefit of the two financial groups in the Slovak health sector," he said. mf/mcs