Greek private doctors protest over unpaid bills

ATHENS - The Associated Press

A doctor examines a patient inside a medical centre in Athens. Doctors are feeling the pinch from public health spending cuts. REUTERS photo

Private doctors working with Greece’s largest state-run healthcare provider have started charging their patients, in protest at the organization’s unpaid bills.

A doctors’ association said the action against the provider EOPYY started Sept. 02 and will last at least five days. Pharmacists launched a similar protest at the weekend, refusing to hand out prescriptions from the state-backed insurer.

Greece’s coalition government is preparing a new round of cuts, worth at least 11.5 billion euros for 2012-13, demanded by the country’s international rescue creditors. It has fallen behind on paying its public health costs, among other payments, in an effort to restrain the budget deficit.