TALLINN - Because of sharp opposition from the Union of Hospitals and the various medical workers' unions, the Council of Eesti Haigekassa (Estonian Health Insurance Fund) couldn't arrive at a common agreement on lowering the costs of medical services.
According to press-secretary Evelin Koppel, the Insurance Fund has made an offer to lower the cost of medical services, and stressed that it is important to lower the costs of medical services as it would then be easier for people to get medical treatment.
Hospitals consider this option unacceptable as they would have to cut the salaries of employees under this scenario. Cutting medical service costs means salaries of medical workers would be reduced, which could have negative side-effects, say the hospitals.
"We have made an offer to lower costs for medical services; this option could be quite helpful as medical services would be available [to more people], says Koppel. "Now we should discuss the size of the cost cuts for medical treatment; we should decide between 6 percent or less, or maybe it would also be necessary to find other solutions, for example, to reduce the number of medical cases," she added.
She says that the Haigekassa council hasn't discussed other solutions for the problem except the 6 percentage reduction. There is a fear, however, that if the prices for public health services are lowered, and hospitals would have to dismiss workers, this then would start a wave of medical workers, especially nurses, leaving for abroad.
The current situation can turn out in favor of Scandinavian neighbors, which can offer work for medical staff from Estonia.
If earlier, in searching for highly qualified specialists in the healthcare sector, nurses turned to employment agencies for help, then now the situation has changed. According to the Estonian Nurses Union, in choosing highly qualified nurses, senior nurses from abroad come to Estonia to meet nurses personally, to estimate their true skill levels, and to then offer contracts.
