Pain ahead for clinic patients

TALLINN - The Tallinn-based private neurodiagnostics center run by Dr. Ain Pajos, which treats about 2,000 epileptic patients, has been excluded from the health insurance funding list, reports daily Eesti Paevaleht. Due to the changes, most patients suffering from the chronic neurological disorder, and previously referred to Pajos’ clinic, must now find a new physician in one of the general hospitals.

For patients suffering from epilepsy, it is essential to have fast access to a doctor, yet the waiting lists can be over a month long in major hospitals, Pajos said.
Patients can still continue to receive treatment from Pajos, yet must now pay a fee of 20 euros for a visit, which, as the physician noted, is too much for the majority of the patients.

In the beginning of 2011, only neurology clinics in the capital’s districts of Lasnamae and Pirita were eligible to receive state funding, according to the Health Insurance Fund’s development plan, as Evelin Koppel, the spokeswoman for the Fund, said. The private establishment of Dr. Pajos was registered in the Mustamae district.

Pajos called this kind of interpretation demagogical, since his license gives him the right to treat all patients, notwithstanding their street address. He cited the policy of henceforth funding only major hospitals, outlined in the Health Insurance Fund’s development plan, as the real reason behind the move.