The General Health Insurance Company (VZP) could run into problems in 2027 if there is no change on the income and expenditure side and the growth of expenditure on health services continues. Today, its director Zdeněk Kabátek said this in the discussion program of the Czech Television Otázky Václav Moravec. Representatives of the largest health insurance company in the country announced on Monday that in the 2025 plan, VZP is again counting on a deficit, which this year will amount to around CZK 4.9 billion. This year, the entire public health insurance system will also be in deficit.
“Our task is to prepare immediately for changes on the expenditure side, which is why we have been working with that situation since the beginning of the year. It is a fact that our economy is cooling down a bit, meaning that incomes will not grow at the same rate as in previous years. We are trying to find solutions that will really lead to providing our clients with affordable and high-quality care,” Kabátek said today.
According to him, spending on health services is growing to a higher extent than the health insurance plan (ZPP) was. However, the insurance company is still able to eliminate this through savings. The ZPP drawn up last fall anticipated a deficit of five billion, which the insurance company made up from savings from previous years. Kabátek said today that the insurance company has created a number of measures, especially in the segment of acute inpatient care. “We have a number of initiatives in other segments as well. Regardless of whether the election is approaching or not, our task is to cultivate that system,” added Kabátek
At the beginning of the week, representatives of the insurance company said that VZP plans to increase the prevention fund by a quarter of a billion to 2.13 billion CZK. From it, the VZP contributes to insured persons, for example, for vaccinations, massages or physical activities. It will more than double by 2023. The insurance company also contributes from it for skin examinations, for children on a gluten-free diet or a lighter cast. Next year, on the other hand, the allowance for dental hygiene will be halved, but the amount for blood donors will double.
Insurance companies expected a deficit in the system in 2021 and 2022 as well, but in reality they managed better thanks to the better state of the economy. However, according to the Ministry of Health (MZd), better economic development than current predictions cannot be expected for next year. According to the Ministry of Health, the entire public health insurance system will also be in deficit this year, roughly in the amount of 11 billion crowns.
Source: www.tyden.cz
