Shadow Health Minister seeks support of minor opposition parties to abolish health fees

Shadow Health Minister David Rath has called on Christian Democrat MPs to vote for a Social Democrat proposal to abolish health fees. Mr Rath has also stated that he intends to call on Green Party MPs to do the same. Both the Greens and Christian Democrats are members of the coalition government, which introduced the controversial health fees early this year. The Social Democrats have long signalled their opposition to the fees and recently attempted to introduce legislation to abolish payments for minors and seniors. Concurrently, the Social Democrats are seeking to abolish the fees in regional hospitals as they put together local governments following their recent election victories. At present, Czechs pay 30 crowns for a prescription, 60 crowns for a day in hospital and also 60 crowns to visit a doctor. The government argues that the fees are essential to raise money and also combat absenteeism.