Government approves law paying unemployed foreigners to return home

The government has approved a bill which will pay foreign workers made redundant to go home. Unemployed foreigners will, under the new law, have their passage home paid for and be given 500 euros if they agree to leave the Czech Republic. Interior Minister Ivan Langer said that the scheme would be put into effect by the end of this month and that he predicted up to 2000 foreign workers would take part in the first phase of the project. The Interior Ministry predicts that up to 12,000 foreigners could be made redundant in the first quarter of this year. Over 68,000 foreigners’ work permits expire by the end of this year. Under the new law, it will be harder for foreigners seeking to work in the Czech Republic to obtain long-term visas to do so.

Health minister says insurers ready to fine those who refuse to collect healthcare fees

Czech health insurers are ready to start fining hospitals and pharmacies which do not collect healthcare fees, Health Minister Daniela Filipiová said on Monday. According to Ms Filipiová, such practice was violation of the law and those who refused to collect fees could be charged up to 50,000 crowns (around 2,350 USD) penalty, repeatedly if they continued to refuse. Since the beginning of 2008, Czechs have had to pay 30 crowns per visit to a doctor and 60 crowns per day spent in hospital. The law has proved controversial, and many hospitals and chemists have refused to collect the fees.