Croatia’s healthcare debt to be funded through reallocation, cost cuts

The necessary funds for Croatia’s healthcare system’s debt settlement will be ensured through budget reallocation and revision as well as cost cuts, Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Thursday.

Marić informed the parliament about the debt settlement scheme whereby installments to cover part of the debt to drug wholesalers in April and May would be ensured through budget reallocations, while the government would revise the national 2021 budget in June.

In two or three weeks’ time, a convergence plan with macroeconomic and fiscal projections will be put on the government’s agenda and the document will serve as a basis for rejigging the budget, Marić said.

He reiterated that healthcare debt has risen by an additional 400 million kuna (€53 million) a month in recent months. The minister said the revenue side of the budget for healthcare performed better than expected, but that expenditure must be addressed. 

Marić reassured the general public that they should not be worried about drug supplies. He said the result and agreement reached at Wednesday’s meeting with drug wholesalers was a short-term solution, and underscored that a long-term solution required a reform of the healthcare system. (Željko Trkanjec | EURACTIV.hr)