ATHENS -- 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 Monday 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 $14.4 billion 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.
