Minister announces plans for new streamlined health service

Health Minister Mariusz Lapinski has estimated that his proposed changes to the health care system will bring as much as zl. 7 billion in cost savings. "There is no alternative. My proposal is the last chance for the creation of a modern health care service," he said. The Health Ministry intends to force pharmaceutical firms to lower the prices of medicines. "A considerable number of firms have already lowered prices," Lapinski stated. Under the program, so-called "sickness funds" will be liquidated and replaced by the National Health Protection Fund, consisting of 16 branches. One of the most important aspects of the cost-savings measures, expected to save zl. 2.5 billion, is the construction of a medical services register, a computer system to control medical services. "Other items of the program are still being discussed," says Lapinski. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) A.Z.