Medical Chamber calls on doctors to protest

The Czech Medical Chamber is calling on doctors with private practices to organize protests against new regulations from the Health Ministry that could drastically lower doctors’ incomes. The chamber is warning that doctors’ real wages could decrease by as much as 20% this year, and some may be forced to cover parts of patient treatments that the public insurance companies will no longer cover. There is also a possibility that insurance companies will be re-evaluating all private practitioners’ contracts, as they did with hospitals last year. The Health Ministry says that private doctors have always been favored by the public insurance system and the effects of austerity measures will logically affect them more than hospitals.