The regional court of Bratislava I rejected the complaint by the Penta financial group against the state regarding the banning of profit from the health insurer Dôvera which it owns. Slovakia thus won a 10 year long case involving a record compensation of €82 million plus €140 million in interest. Penta can file an appeal against the Court's decision. "We have to study the decision in details first and then we will be able to say whether we will appeal to the court," stated Penta spokesperson Martin Danko. Representing the state in Court on Friday, Andrea Holíková from the Finance Ministry stated that the health care system would be endangered if the Dôvera owners won the trial. "Following a fictitious feud, it is claiming more money from the state budget which can endanger the whole system of providing health care," she said. Slovakia has a universal coverage healthcare system involving mandatary contributions paid by all economically active people. The state pays for the unemployed, pensioners, students and those on parental leave. These levies are collected by three health insurance companies - Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa which is state owned and has the largest market share at about 60.9 percent and two privately owned ones: Dôvera (29.6 percent) and Union (9.5 percent). They use the collected money to cover the treatment of their clients.
The ban on the profit of health insurance companies was adopted by the Government and passed by Parliament in 2007, during the first term of former Prime Minister Robert Fico. The law prohibited insurers from taking the profit out of the company and made them put the money back into the system. Following the complaint by some MPs, the Constitutional Court decided in 2011 that the law banning the profit was not ok and MPs should change it. Currently, the owners can pay out the profits.
As the Dennik N daily reported, Slovakia has been facing several complaints due to the law on banning profits to health insurers, also including Achmea (owner of the Union insurance company) and MCH Medical (owner of the now non existing European health insurance company). The owners of the insurance companies filed a complaint at the European Court of Arbitration. Following the court's decision, only the owners of the Union insurance company were to be paid €22 million. Slovakia, however, appealed against the decision, claiming that the contracts on which the arbitrations were based could not be valid after entrance to the EU. The EU Court accepted the argument and the state did not have to compensate the Union owner.
