On Tuesday, the Parliament passed amendments to the Law on Compulsory Health Insurance, which will enter into force on August 1, with the accepted amendment by Mostov Ante Kujundžić, which expands the list of persons exempt from the obligation to report to the Croatian Health Insurance Institute once every three months.
In addition to the already legally prescribed exceptions to the obligation to report to the Croatian Health Insurance Institute once every three months (persons on maternity and parental benefits, persons who are unable to access benefits due to health or other conditions, persons with third and fourth degree disability status), single parents with children up to seven years of age, persons caring for a seriously ill family member, and students who are in the process of re-enrolling are now also included.
The amendments to the law will also increase the minimum monthly amount of salary compensation during temporary incapacity for work from 110 to 353 euros, and the maximum monthly amount from 565 to 995 euros.
The compensation for insured persons who did not have nine months of continuous employment or 12 months with interruptions in the last two years, and ended up on long-term sick leave, was increased to EUR 353.
A salary of 100 percent of the base is also provided for the care of a sick child up to the age of seven, and compensation for transportation costs for health purposes is determined at the rate of 0,025 percent of the budget base per kilometer, between the person's address and the contracting entity of the Institute or institution abroad.
Parliament rejected the proposed conclusion of the Možemo! Club, which would have obliged the Government to propose amendments to the Mandatory Health Insurance Act within 60 days and enable full payment for termination of pregnancy.
Health Care Act amended
The Parliament, through an urgent procedure, amended the Health Care Act, abolishing internships for healthcare workers and tightening procedures against workers who have criminal charges against sexual freedom and child abuse.
Amendments to the Act have tightened the conditions for conducting private practice in a practice, that is, the conditions for employment.
Namely, a worker who provides healthcare and participates in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures must not be subject to criminal proceedings or be convicted by a final judgment of any of the criminal offenses against sexual freedom, sexual abuse, or child exploitation in accordance with the Criminal Code. If a worker is convicted by a final judgment of any of these criminal offenses, the employer must terminate the worker's employment contract.
The internship and professional exam for: midwife - assistant, physiotherapy technician, bachelor of physiotherapy, health laboratory technician, bachelor of medical laboratory diagnostics, sanitary engineer, sanitary technician, bachelor of occupational therapy, bachelor of radiological technology, dental technician, dental assistant and pharmaceutical technician have been abolished.
This means that these occupations will no longer have the obligation to complete an internship or take a professional exam. However, the possibility of working under supervision for a maximum of three months is prescribed for healthcare workers whose obligation to complete an internship and pass a professional exam and for those who are employed for the first time in a profession for which they have acquired a professional qualification is abolished.
The Parliament rejected the proposal for a conclusion by the SDP caucus, which would have tasked the government with sending the bill on amendments to the Health Care Act to the regular procedure because the conditions prescribed by the Rules of Procedure of the Croatian Parliament for the adoption of that law through an urgent procedure have not been met.
Parliament passed the Speech Therapy Act, which stipulates that this activity can be performed by a master of speech therapy who has a Chamber approval for independent work, which is renewed every six years, and is entered in the Register. The Croatian Chamber of Speech Therapists will be established by the Ministry of Health and the Croatian Speech Therapy Society.
It has also been more precisely determined where speech therapy activities can be performed and under what conditions, and the transitional period has been more clearly defined in such a way that only a master's degree in speech therapy can submit an application to perform the activity, and not all those who have performed it so far.
It is stipulated that companies and natural persons-craftsmen who have been performing their activities until now have a period of two years to adapt their own activities.
Photo: HINA/Damir Senčar
