Prague - The Czech parliament's lower house Friday struck down direct fees for medical care, an unpopular public finance reform of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government designed to curb waste in healthcare. The leftist opposition, helped by several government lawmakers and independents, voted 97-92 to strike down the fees that were introduced in January. Four lawmakers abstained.
The government introduced a 30-koruny (1.50 dollars) payment for doctor's visits and one prescribed medication, 60 koruny for hospital stays and 90 koruny for an emergency room visit.
Abolishing the fees requires the approval of parliament's upper house, the Senate, which is expected to uphold them. The payments' future is thus likely to become a subject of further negotiations.
Topolanek's three-party centre-right ruling coalition, which is to take over the European Union's helm for half a year on January 1, has been significantly weakened in the lower house.
The government can count on 96 votes in the 200-seat chamber, while the leftist opposition can count on 97. The remaining seven lawmakers are independents.
The introduction of fees for medical care has been unpopular in other parts of central Europe where people have been used to free medical care during the Communist era. Similar reforms were rejected in Hungary and Slovakia.
But other former Eastern Bloc countries such as Bulgaria, Latvia and Estonia successfully introduced direct healthcare payments after the fall of communism in 1989, according to the Bratislava-based pro- fee Health Policy Institute.
