Sebija Izetbegović's Reforms: Those Without 1,000 KM Cannot Have Cancer Surgery in Sarajevo

Ahmed Valjevčić has lung cancer, a valid health insurance card, and regular health insurance. He has veteran status, a pensioner's card, and a pension of 350 marks. All of this is insufficient for him to be operated on at the Sarajevo Clinical Center. 
“I don’t have a thousand marks,” laments Valjevčić, who spent seventeen days at the Clinical Center waiting for surgery.

On the eighteenth day, he received a discharge letter stating: “Referring to letter number 0203-48312 dated 11.11.2016, we are obliged to inform the patient that the Sarajevo Health Insurance Fund does not cover the costs of CONSUMABLE MATERIALS NECESSARY FOR SURGICAL PROCEDURES, and therefore the PATIENT IS OBLIGED TO PARTICIPATE IN FINANCING THE PART OF THE COSTS RELATED TO CONSUMABLE MATERIALS.”

“That’s about a thousand marks. It was 1500 at first, then they reduced it to a thousand. I don’t have that money, and despite my doctors’ best intentions, they cannot operate on me. It all came from the top,” says Ahmed.

PATIENTS SUBORDINATED TO SAVINGS

In the discharge letter, Ahmed’s doctors referred to a document “from the top.” In November of this year, General Director Sebija Izetbegović sent a notice to all clinics of the Sarajevo Clinical Center stating that patients should finance the costs of “consumable materials” themselves.

“It is necessary that before admitting patients for surgery, you inform them about the materials financed by their insurance, and the materials not covered by the patient’s insurance, along with their advantages and disadvantages, and if the patient agrees to FINANCE THE COST HIMSELF, it is necessary to PAY AN ADVANCE PAYMENT OF THE AMOUNT FOR THE SPECIFIED CONSUMABLE MATERIALS BEFORE THE SURGICAL PROCEDURE. The clinic must code this material and direct the patient to one of the KCUS cash desks,” reads the letter from KCUS General Director Sebija Izetbegović.

These provisions, however, apply to patients from the Canton of Sarajevo, as all other cantons partially or fully cover the costs for their patients. Izetbegović states in her letter that the Health Insurance Fund and management had previously warned doctors, but that the doctors had not adhered to these warnings.

“Those warnings were not respected because patients came first. Now, everything, including patient health, is subordinated to the alleged savings of the Sarajevo Clinical Center, so that General Director Izetbegović can claim to be a successful manager,” explains one of the doctors from the Sarajevo Clinical Center.

As Žurnal has learned, at least two patients (M.H. and M.A.) have paid more than a thousand marks in recent days to undergo surgery at the Sarajevo Clinical Center, even though both patients have regular health insurance. One of the mentioned patients even had to take out a loan to cover the costs of his surgery. 

“I can’t even take out a loan. My pension is 350 KM. I will see about setting aside 100 KM each month and saving up for the surgery. It will take me a year. The doctors told me that the tumor will likely grow by then, but I have no choice,” Ahmed Valjevčić told us.

INTERVENTION OF THE MEDICAL CHAMBER

And while patients are being discharged because they lack money, the General Director of KCUS has directed all her energy towards a new attempt to gain control of the Medical Chamber of the Canton of Sarajevo. Thus, on January 24th, an “extraordinary assembly of the Medical Chamber” will be held at the Clinical Center, convened by doctors close to the General Director, professor, doctor, first lady, and the de facto ruler of Sarajevo healthcare – Sebija Izetbegović.

(zurnal.info)