Kocan Takes Over Helm of State-run Health Insurer VsZP

Bratislava, May 17 (TASR) – State-run health insurance company Vseobecna zdravotna poistovna (VsZP) has a new boss, with Health Minister Tomas Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee) appointing Miroslav Kocan to the post along with new members of the board of directors on Tuesday.

Kocan has come to the largest health insurer in Slovakia from a CEO post at private insurance company Allianz. After undergoing a public hearing before the parliamentary health committee last week, Kocan described the top managerial post at VsZP as a big challenge. “Many scandals have been reported by the media, thereby lowering the credibility of VsZP. My goal is to set rules and systems so that the transparency and objectivity of what VsZP is doing is increased. My personal target is to improve awareness and the public perception of our company,” said Kocan. Drucker expects him to set standards so that funds are redistributed in an effective manner.

In addition to Kocan, Milan Horvath and Michal Duris have joined VsZP as members of its board of directors. Horvath, who was the deputy general director of Eximbanka SR until now, will be vice-chairman of the board. Duris, who worked in the field of health legislation, as well as a lecturer at the Law Faculty of Bratislava-based Comenius University, will be a member of the board.

Meanwhile, the way in which nominations for the supervisory board are made has also changed. Members won’t be made up exclusively of representatives of health care, but also those of the finance, justice and interior sectors, as well as the political Opposition and non-government sector. “I think this is a representation of all those who have something to say on this [area],” said Drucker.

The outgoing VsZP chairman is Miroslav Vadura. He replaced Marcel Forai, who resigned last year due to a scandal involving contracts awarded in favour of his aunt Anna Suckova.