Family doctors refuse to sign contract with NHIH
Not signing the framework contract with the National Health Insurance House is preventing family doctors from issuing prescriptions for free medicines or referrals to specialist doctors.
Articol de Ionuţ Dragu, 02 Iunie 2011, 11:00
Family doctors have decided not to sign the framework contract with the National Health Insurance House (NHIH) for 2011- 2012.
Under these circumstances, family doctors cannot issue prescriptions for free and compensated medicines or referrals to medical specialists.
The President of Family Doctors Association, Doina Mihaila, stated that doctors want to renegotiate the contract that still raises problems.
On the other hand, the Minister of Health, Cseke Atilla, announced that the methodological norms concerning the new framework contract will be published on Wednesday.
The Minister of Health, Attila Cseke, said during the Lunch Debate on Radio Romania Actualităţi that he sees no reason why they should not sign this contract since from the point of view of the ministry he is leading, all their demands have been answered.
Cseke Attila says that ‘the implementation norms have been finalized and sent to the Official Gazette. It should become operative today. Another change of the framework contract was published on Tuesday and contains several improvements with respects to those required by family doctors. I see no reason why they should refuse to sign these contracts of providing services.’
According to Cseke Atilla, the change is related to penalty decrease, to the article that provides the replacement with specialist doctors of those refusing to sign the framework contract and the elimination of indicative budgets.
However, family doctors announced they will not sign the framework contract not even if the Minister of Health, Cseke Attila assures them their demands have been solved.
The President of Family Doctors Association, Doina Mihaila, says that doctors want to renegotiate the contract that still raises problems.
The framework contract was scheduled to become effective on Wednesday.
Given the fact that it has not been signed, family doctors will not be able to issue compensated prescriptions or referrals.
Translated by: Cătălina Virvescu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University.
