CRO GOVT ANNOUNCES TOUGH NEW MEASURES TO FIGHT HEALTH CARE SCAM

ZAGREB, Feb 8 (Hina) - So many firms in Croatia are dodging health and retirement payments that the Governemnt has announced tough measures as a panacea to the problem. Croatian Prime Minister, Nikica Valentic, described the problem as rampant adding that the Government would apply stricter measures and may even resort to emergency amendments to existing legislation. Speaking at a Government session today, he adamantly condemned companies that robbed their employees of basic health care rights by not paying the contributions which they had duly taken from their employees' salaries. Under the existing health care system, the employer is supposed to pay health and retirement contributions which it collects from its employees. "We will abide by the principles of the welfare state," Valentic said. "It's quite obvious that we can't just let ten thousand workers plummet into social obscurity because their employers are dodging payments," Valentic said. He announced that the worst offenders would have to go into liquidation or be restructured. "The total outstanding debt to the Health Care Institute is 286 million kunas (about seventy million DEM)," Health Care Minister Andrija Hebrang said. The biggest debtors were major shipbuilding companies, which jointly owed 117.7 million kunas, while Slovenia owed over 81 million kunas for health care services provided to its citizens. "We are going to activate all legal remedies at our disposal and deny health care to all debtors, except for emergency care." But he said the Government would give debtors yet another deadline to settle their liabilities. Justice Minister Ivica Crnic suggested that payment dodgers be prosecuted. The Government also earmarked 1.5 million kunas for this year's spring sowing, which is to cover 620.987 hectares or 1.2 percent more than last year. (hina) as sd 081530 MET feb 95