Indications list for spa rehabilitation treatment care

Indications list for spa rehabilitation treatment care

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic has revoked the Ministry of Health Decree no. 267/2012 Coll., on Setting an Indications List for Spa Rehabilitation Treatment Care for Adults, Children and Adolescents (Indications List) effective as of Dec 31, 2014 which provided time for the government and the Parliament to implement the Indications List into the Act on Public Health Insurance.

However, due to various motions of the members of Parliament the hearing of the amendments was taking so long that there was a real threat of the Indication List not being passed until the end of 2014 which would create a legal situation where from January 1, 2015 any indication of spa rehabilitation treatment care would become very complicated. In words of the Constitutional Court, such situation could in extreme scenarios destabilize this whole health care sector; at the same time, the degree of legal certainty concerning the scope in which the provision of this care is covered by public health insurance would decrease considerably.

Given the status quo of the legislative procedure regarding the amendment of the Act on Public Health Insurance, our law office which represents the Czech Spa Association provided an expert commentary for the purposes of amendment hearings at the Czech Senate, which highlighted the risks ensuing from the non-passing of the amendment in the Senate or by its return to the Parliament. Regrettably, party politics won, as is often the case, and the amendment was sent back to Parliament with revised proposals. As we predicted, the amendment was not passed by the end of 2014, however the Parliament managed to contain the period of legal uncertainty to only a few days when on January 6, 2015 the amendment to the Act on Public Health Insurance (with the Indications List included) finally became effective.