Such a statement is humiliating for Croatian citizens who regularly pay health insurance, the association's head, Marijo Drlje, told a news conference in Zagreb on Wednesday.
Immediately after Demekas's statement that the health system in Croatia was sick due to too high spending, the Health Ministry announced possible cuts of health care rights "which would be a serious blow to citizens who barely make ends meet", Drlje said.
"While it is being claimed that the health system does not have money, agreement has been reached on a rise in salaries of doctors in the coming six years by 77 percent, although the IMF has recommended the freezing of wages," he said, adding that salaries of employees and similar costs in the health sector accounted for 70 percent of the entire spending in this sector, with costs of health care accounting for only 30 percent.