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The Committee invites the Government in its next report to respond to the following requests.

Article 7. Degree of incapacity to work. Please indicate whether under national legislation the entitlement to sickness benefit requires a minimum degree of incapacity for work.

Articles 10 and 19. Coverage. Please provide all relevant statistics requested in the report form under Articles 10 and 19.

Article 13. Nature of the care. Please indicate the applicable legal provisions which give effect to Article 13(a) on domiciliary care and Article 13(b), (c) and (e).

Article 17. Sharing in the cost of medical care. Please indicate the extent to which the beneficiary or the beneficiary’s breadwinner is required to share the cost of the medical care received and what measures have been taken to ensure that cost sharing avoids hardship and does not prejudice the effectiveness of medical and social protection.

Article 22. Please provide the information requested by the report form under Titles I and II of Article 22.

Article 27. Funeral allowance. Please indicate whether the amount of the funeral allowance provided by the legislation is sufficient in relation to the real cost of funerals.

Article 28. Suspension of benefits. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that benefits are reduced by half in the event work incapacity results from alcohol consumption or abuse of drugs. Please indicate how this provision is being applied in practice and the number of cases where the benefits have been reduced for such reasons.

Article 29. Right of appeal and complaint. Please indicate how this Article is applied in national law and practice.

Article 32. Equal treatment. Please provide detailed information on the legislation and procedures available to ensure access to medical care for non-nationals.

The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would attach to its next report the latest available consolidated versions of the following legislation: Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance of 20 October 2003; Act No. 462/2003 Coll. on wage replacement during temporary work incapacity of an employee; Act No. 140/1998 on medicines and medical aids; Act No. 576/2004 on health care and on services related to health care; Act No. 577/2004 on the scope of health care covered by the public health insurance and on the reimbursement of health care-related services; Act No. 578/2004 on health care providers, health workers and professional organizations in the health service; Act No. 579/2004 Coll. of 21 October 2004 on the emergency medical service; Act No. 580/2004 on health insurance and Act No. 581/2004 on health insurance companies and health care supervision.

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Referring to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report. It also notes the entry into force on 1 January 2004 of Act No. 461 of 2003 on social insurance and Act No. 462 of 2003 concerning benefits in the event of temporary incapacity for work, the Slovak texts of which have been communicated by the Government.

The Committee has decided to adjourn its examination until it has an English translation of this legislation.

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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It has nevertheless examined the applicable legislation, and particularly Act No. 54 of 1956 on sickness insurance, Act No. 273 of 1994 on health insurance, Act No. 277 of 1994 on health care, and Act No. 98 of 1995 establishing rules respecting medical care. In order to be able to assess in full the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, the Committee trusts that the Government will not fail to provide full particulars in its next report on the following points.

Part II (Medical care) and Part III (Sickness benefit). Articles 10 and 19 (in relation to Article 5) of the Convention. (Scope of application.) The Committee requests the Government to indicate to which of the subparagraphs of Articles 10 and 19 it intends to have recourse with regard to the scope of application of the medical care and sickness benefit branches. In the event that the Government intends to have recourse for one and/or other of these contingencies to subparagraph (a) of Articles 10 and 19 of the Convention, the Committee wishes to draw its attention to the derogations authorized by Article 5 of the Convention.

Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to provide all the statistics requested in the report form under Articles 10 and 19, point 3 and/or under Article 5, point 2, according to the provisions to which it has recourse.

Part II (Medical care), Article 13 (Nature of the care). As the Committee only has partial translations of Acts Nos. 273 of 1994 and 98 of 1995 at its disposal, it requests the Government to indicate the manner in which effect is given to Article 13(e) respecting dental care, with an indication of the applicable legal provisions.

Article 17. (Sharing in the cost of medical care). Please indicate the rules applicable to the sharing by persons protected in the cost of medical care with regard to prosthetic and orthopaedic appliances.

Part III (Sickness benefit), Article 21 (in relation to Article 22). Please supply statistical information on the amount of sickness benefit as requested in the report form under Article 22 of the Convention, Titles I and II. The Committee emphasizes the need to be provided with this information since, under the Slovak system, sickness benefit is based on the previous earnings of the person protected, which are subject to a ceiling. It draws the Government’s attention in this respect to Article 22, paragraph 3, which provides that, in such cases, the maximum limit must be fixed in such a way that the provisions relating to the amount of the benefit are complied with where the previous earnings of the beneficiary are equal to or lower than the wage of a skilled manual male employee. For the determination of a skilled manual male employee, the Government may wish to refer to Article 22, paragraph 6(d), which states that he may be a person whose earnings are equal to 125 per cent of the average earnings of all the persons protected.

Article 26. (Duration of sickness benefit). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the implementation in practice of section 15(5) of Act No. 54 of 1956 on employees’ sickness insurance, so as to confirm that the duration of sickness benefit remains in conformity with the provisions of Article 26, paragraph 1, of the Convention, by virtue of which the grant of benefit may not be less than 52 weeks in each case of incapacity, even where a new case of incapacity occurs within the period of one year envisaged in section 15(4) of the above Act.

Article 27 (Funeral expenses). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide up-to-date information on the funeral allowance provided under Act No. 238 of 1998, with an indication of its amount. Please also indicate whether the amount of this benefit is sufficient in relation to the real cost of funerals.

Part IV (Common provisions), Article 29 (Right of appeal). Please provide information on the appeal procedures available to complainants with regard to both medical care and sickness benefit in the case of their refusal or complaints.

Article 31 (Representation of the persons protected in the administration of the scheme). The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the manner in which the representation of the persons protected is ensured in the administration of funds other than the General Sickness Insurance Fund, with an indication of the applicable provisions.

Article 32. Please provide information on the implementation in practice of section 12 of Act No. 277 of 1994 on medical care, taking into account Article 32 of the Convention, which provides that each Member shall, within its territory, assure to non-nationals who normally reside or work there equality of treatment with its own nationals as regards the right to benefits.

As the communication of certain information, and particularly statistics on the amount of sickness benefit, may prove to be relatively complex, the Committee wishes to remind the Government of the possibility of having recourse to the technical assistance of the Office in this respect.

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The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows.

The Committee notes the Government’s report on the application of the Convention for the period ending 1 September 1998 as well as the attached legislation in the Slovak language. It notes that the report provides information on the application of some but not all Articles of the Convention, does not contain the required statistical data, and does not identify in all cases the relevant provisions of the legislation in force. The Committee recalls in this respect that in its previous direct requests of 1995 and 1998 it has already asked the Government to provide detailed information and statistical data, as required by the report form on the Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO, with respect to each Article of the Convention. Indeed, it would greatly facilitate the task of examining the national legislation and translating its provisions into one of the working languages of the Committee if the Government’s report would identify and explain the content of those legislative provisions, as amended by later regulations, as the case may be, which are relevant to the application of each Article of the Convention. The Committee would therefore once again ask the Government to make such an effort in its next report presenting it in the form required by the Governing Body. It would also like the Government to supply a copy of Act No. 54/1956 of the Collection of Laws on Sickness Insurance, as amended by later regulations, to which it extensively refers in its report.

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The Committee notes the Government’s report on the application of the Convention for the period ending 1 September 1998 as well as the attached legislation in the Slovak language. It notes that the report provides information on the application of some but not all Articles of the Convention, does not contain the required statistical data, and does not identify in all cases the relevant provisions of the legislation in force. The Committee recalls in this respect that in its previous direct requests of 1995 and 1998 it has already asked the Government to provide detailed information and statistical data, as required by the report form on the Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO, with respect to each Article of the Convention. Indeed, it would greatly facilitate the task of examining the national legislation and translating its provisions into one of the working languages of the Committee if the Government’s report would identify and explain the content of those legislative provisions, as amended by later regulations, as the case may be, which are relevant to the application of each Article of the Convention. The Committee would therefore once again ask the Government to make such an effort in its next report presenting it in the form required by the Governing Body. It would also like the Government to supply a copy of Act No. 54/1956 of the Collection of Laws on Sickness Insurance, as amended by later regulations, to which it extensively refers in its report.

[The Government is asked to report in 2001.]

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The Committee notes that the Government's report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain detailed information under each Article of the Convention, including the necessary statistical data, as required by the report form on this Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate applicable legislation and regulations and to provide copies.

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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report for the period ending 30 June 1994. It hopes that the next report will contain detailed information under each Article of the Convention, including the necessary statistical data, as required by the report form on this Convention adopted by the Governing Body of the ILO.