Health Policy Analyzes - HSPM Network
The latest short policy analyzes we have prepared for the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policy, specieficly for the section Health Systems and Policy Monitor, concern the amendment to Act 363/2011 and the age structure of dentists.
As we already wrote in our study Drug policy in broader budgetary contexts, Slovakia lags behind other developed countries in the availability of innovative medicines, and in addition to the payment of categorized drugs, the so-called exceptional regime for reimbursement of medicines. In an effort to solve these problems an amendment to Act No. 363/2011 was approved in 2022,. We consider the key changes to be:
- adjustments to the QALY threshold,
- changes in the categorization process, including the introduction of consultations before the procedure,
- concluding Managed Entry Agreements with the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic instead of health insurance companies,
- transparent rules for decision-making in the exception regime and also setting the upper limit of the volume of funds.
Although Slovakia has a very unfavorable age structure for general practitioners and pediatricians, this problem does not affect dentists. According to data from the National Health Information Center, the share of young dentists has increased rapidly over the last ten years. One of the main reasons for the rapid growth is probably the attractive financial reward for this group of specialists. According to the webpage Profesia.sk, the monthly salary of a dentist in 2023 will be around EUR 5,000 (approximately four times the average salary of EUR 1,304).
The whole text is available on the HSPM website.