Government approves compensation for scrapped hospital fees

The government has approved a proposal for hospitals to get 2.1 billion crowns in 2014 as compensation for scrapped hospital fees which went to cover food and accommodation services provided to patients. In 2015 hospitals would get 4.2 billion crowns for this purpose. The money would come from a higher state contribution to health insurance for children, pensioners and the unemployed. The proposal still needs to win approval in Parliament and be signed into law by the president. Hospital fees were scrapped as of the start of this year by a ruling of the Constitutional Court which upheld a complaint that they were unconstitutional in view of the fact that patients are already paying health insurance.