The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic did not sufficiently justify the decision on the determination of the maximum amount of reimbursement by the health insurance company for medicines

The case concerned an action brought by the health insurance company Dôvera against a second-instance decision of the Minister of Health concerning the determination of the maximum amount of reimbursement by the health insurance company for a standard dose of a medicinal product for the relevant reference groups in the list of categorised medicinal products.

The Minister of Health decided on the objections of the health insurance company Dôvera against the first-instance decision of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic by rejecting them and uphelding the contested decision.

In its action, the health insurer Dôvera argued that the decision of the Minister of Health on its objections was not properly reasoned.

After examining the case, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic concluded that the Minister for Health had not given reasons for the defendant’s decision in accordance with the law. The mere reference to the relevant statutory provision and the indecisive vote of the advisory body, the Categorisation Board, cannot constitute a proper statement of reasons for the decision. Nor is it sufficient merely to refer to the reasoning of the first-instance decision.

In the present case, it was not possible to give priority to the public interest claimed by the Minister for Health over the requirement of legality of decision-making, since the two attributes are inextricably linked in administrative justice and cannot be interpreted one to the detriment of the other. The public interest cannot be given priority over the statutory obligation to state adequate reasons for the decision of a public authority.

The case was decided by Panel 1S of the Supreme Administrative Court, composed of: the President of the Panel, JUDr. Jana Hatalová, PhD. and the Judges, JUDr. Katarína Cangárová, PhD., LL.M., and JUDr. Marián Fečík (Judge-rapporteur).