Should the University Clinical Center in Sarajevo (in Bosnian: UKCS) charge for testing for the coronavirus cantons for which it conducts tests? This issue was raised, after information from the Central Bosnia Canton (CBC), that they had received a letter from the UKCS stating that they had to pay for testing retroactively since the beginning of the pandemic.
The authorities of the CBC claim that the UKCS is asking them to pay for all coronavirus testing retroactively.
“Now that we have received the invoice, we see that it is a huge amount of money. We were surprised by the attitude of the clinical centers. What was donated and what was approved by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) Government should not be included in the price “, said Tahir Lendo, the Prime Minister of the CBC.
In the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton (BPC), they say that at the end of last year they received a letter from the UKCS, saying that every testing must have the approval of the Health Insurance Institute, which means that the Institute bears all the costs. 10 days ago, as they said, testing was suspended for 24 hours, but the problem was solved.
“We handled it very quickly, however, the problem remained in terms of who will continue to pay it, more precisely the cost that the clinical center has had so far,” said Salem Halilovic.
“A few days ago, we received a notice from the UKCS that the tests that we will send in the future must be accompanied by appropriate decisions for treatment outside the canton, which implies paying for services. We assumed that something like this could happen to a large number of patients in Sarajevo and Tuzla, and we verified two laboratories “, explained Adnan Jupic, the Minister of Health of Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDC).
There was no answer to the inquiry on this topic from the UKCS, until the moment of editing this article by BHRT. And in the Federal Ministry of Health, they say that this is a question for the UKCS.
“If they are purchased, then it is to be expected that they will charge for their testing services that were conducted through the processes. It must be known how the contractual relationship was made, it must be known whether these cantons procure testings or they are only being charged for services and whether both testings and services are charged, ” explained Goran Cerkez, advisor in the FBiH Ministry of Health.
The BPC Health Insurance Institute says that the Institute cannot pay such costs, because there is no money, contract, price, parameters, so this issue will be the topic of a meeting of all cantonal institutes in March which will take place in Gradacac, BHRT writes.
