THE COMPETITION COUNCIL OBLIGATES THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH TO AMEND SPECIFIED PROVISIONS

Having examined the findings of the completed investigation the Competition Council passed the Resolution whereby it established that item 6 and 10 of the Procedure for the Payment for Personal health Services (hereinafter – the Procedure) approved by Order No. V-1113 of 22 December 2006 of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Lithuania as regards the specialised outpatient services contradict the requirements of Article 4 of the Law on Competition. The Ministry of Health was obligated, within the term of three months amend the provisions of the Order of the Ministry of Health to bring them into line with the requirements of the Law on Competition.

The investigation was initiated upon the receipt by the Competition Council of a request from UAB Baltic Orthoservice.  The applicant requested the Council to investigate whether the actions of the Kaunas territorial patient’s fund while distributing the budget of the Mandatory Health Insurance Fund (MHIF) are compliant with the provisions of the Law on Competition since the company was provided fewer consultations compensated from the MHIF budget than it requested.

The investigation established that for the purpose of the distribution of the MHIF budget the Kaunas territorial Patient’s Fund was acting in accordance with items 6 and 10 of the Procedure approved by the Order of the Minister of Health. In accordance with item 6 of the Procedure the funding for the payment for the services from the MHIF budget is provided for in the agreement between the territorial patient’s fund and the personal health care institution. The funds are allocated to the health care institutions in advance, while item 10 of the Procedure specifies the criteria underlying the amount to be allocated to a health care institution from the MHIF budget. The procedure, in the opinion of the Competition Council, causes significant differences in funding to individual health care institutions. The procedure whereby the funds are allocated in advance as defined in item 6 and 10 of the Procedure creates unequal competitive conditions for undertakings providing certain health care services.

Article 4 of the Law on Competition of the Republic of Lithuania provides for a prohibition to public and local authorities from adopting legal acts or other decisions which grant privileges to or discriminate against any individual undertakings or their groups and which bring about or may bring about differences in the conditions of competition for competitors in the relevant market, except where the difference in the conditions of competition cannot be avoided when the requirements of the laws of the Republic of Lithuania are complied with.