In the shadow of all the problems with hospital doctors recently and a new strike alert, it now appears that around 1,700 private GPs and paediatricians are getting ready to withdraw from contracts with health insurance companies from January.
Daily Hospodarske Noviny cites head of the Association of Private Doctors, Ladislav Pásztor, as saying the insurers have not increased payments to them for five years already, and so the whole system is heading towards a breakdown.
The specialists are therefore demanding around EUR 600 more from health insurers per surgery, which works out at about 20% higher than now. This will help cover also higher salaries for nurses.
Pasztor also pointed out how many of the private practitioners are of retirement age, and if they close their practices, it will take years before the capacity is restored.