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 Wholesalers said on Friday they would sue those hospitals with the
longest payment delays, adding that the hospitals' debt to them is
rising by some 150 million kuna a month.
"After financing the hospitals for many years without getting
(proper) payments, our own business is in jeopardy. It is only the
government's responsibility that deliveries to some hospitals will
be reduced as it has ignored our problem," Ivan Klobucar, a
representative of wholesalers, told reporters.
The measures cover hospitals with payment delays longer than 1,000
days in the central town of Sisak, the eastern town of Vinkovci and
the popular Adriatic destination of Dubrovnik.
The wholesalers said they had also informed the European Commission
about the situation as it "threatens the functioning of the Croatian
health system which must also be at the disposal of other European
Union citizens".
Croatia's hospitals, five of which delay payments by more than 800
days, settle their debts on average in 590 days. At the end of 2017
the overall hospital debt to wholesalers amounted to 1.6 billion
kuna with an average payment delay of 360 days. The legal payment
deadline is 60 days.
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The health ministry was not available for an immediate comment on
the new moves by drugs wholesalers.
The overall debt arrears of Croatia's health system, which includes
the state agency for health insurance and other medical
institutions, are estimated at around one billion euros ($1.13
billion).
The health and pension systems are sore points in Croatia's fiscal
performance which has considerably improved in the last three years
as the country strives to adopt the euro in the next four to five
years. However, reforms of the health and pension systems remain
weak.
(Reporting by Igor Ilic; editing by David Evans)
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