Greta Pocienė, a resident of Vilnius, faced an unexpected payment situation when she visited an ophthalmologist after receiving a referral from her family doctor. Initially, she was told she needed to pay 70 euros, but when she mentioned her referral, the fee was suddenly discounted to 38 euros. Despite this reduction, Pocienė was adamant that the full cost of the consultation should be covered by the Valstybinė ligonių kasa (VLK), Lithuania's National Health Insurance Fund.

Upon further inquiry, Pocienė was informed that she was expected to pay not for the consultation but for the registration, which was contrary to the information provided during her online booking. Feeling unsettled by the clinic's responses, she decided to contact VLK directly. During her call, she noted that the clinic's registration staff reacted mockingly to her questions about this discrepancy, which escalated her concerns about the clinic's practices.

After confirming with VLK that her consultation should indeed be fully covered, Pocienė found herself in a position of having to advocate for her rights as a patient against a clinic that seemed to be unclear or possibly misleading about its payment policies. This incident raises broader questions about transparency and the ethical obligations of private healthcare providers in Lithuania, especially regarding communication about costs to patients who rely on public health funding.