Universal health care

Ljubljana – The government adopted on Friday an emergency bill estimated at over EUR 200 million that is designed to reduce waiting times for health services. The core provision is the removal of the cap on the number of services that the public health insurer pays in a given year.

More than half a billion people worldwide were brought to extreme poverty last year because they had to pay for health care themselves during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization and the World Bank said on Sunday.

Ljubljana – Janez Poklukar, the director of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, has been endorsed by the Health Committee as candidate for health minister. The National Assembly vote is scheduled for next week.

Health Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis on Monday unveiled a plan aimed at helping some 2.5 million uninsured citizens gain access to free healthcare.

Under Kouroublis?s plan, which is expected to be enforced by next month, millions of uninsured citizens will be able to apply for health booklets at Citizens? Information Centers (KEPs).