The Slovak government’s plan to nationalize the country’s health insurance sector may be stalled at the moment, but Robert Fico says that money, rather than legal issues, are the only thing blocking the way. He claims that the outcome of arbitration proceedings in its fight with the Dutch insurance company Achmea confirms the legitimacy of the government’s right to take over this part of the insurance sector. “No one can ban us from creating a single health insurance system even if we had to nationalize companies that don’t agree with this,” he said.
Achmea not only lost its legal fight but has been ordered to pay Slovakia’s legal fees, though to run to €1m. The company had hoped to block the government’s planned changes to the insurance system. At the moment, however, the state lacks the resources to carry out the plan.
