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The meeting of the Parliamentary Audit Committee was held in an intense atmosphere, at which the findings of the Annual Report of the Auditor General for the Health Insurance Organization and the operation of the GESS were presented, while at the end of the meeting the Audit Office announced that it would send findings. to the Police.
The Minister of Finance, for his part, said, among other things, that “those who are fighting the GESS are those who refuse to implement the legislation. With mathematical precision, they lead this great conquest of all to collapse “, answering a question of the AKEL MP, George Loukaidis, who spoke about” methodology by the Minister of Finance “, which” aims to affect the viability of the GESS “. referring to a “unilateral decision of the Ministry of Health, for a cut of over 103 million from the GESS, at the same time that it claims another 50 million cuts”.
Moreover, the Minister of Health said that a meeting of the Administrative OAY Council in his presence, with the main topic of the abuses in GESS and the ways to reduce them.
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Today's meeting of the Parliamentary Audit Committee was held in the presence of the Minister of Finance and the Director General of the Ministry, the Minister of Health and the Director General of the Ministry, the General Accountant, as well as representatives of the Tax Department, the Legal Service, and representatives of the Health Insurance Organization (OAS).
The discussion in the Committee developed with several moments of tension and controversy, both between the President, Zacharias Koulias, and the AKEL Parliamentary Representative, George Loukaidis, on the occasion of questions to the Auditor General, as well as between the Minister of Finance, Konstantinos Petridis, of OAY.
During his statement, the Auditor General, Odysseas Michailidis, referred to the finding of a series of irregularities that arose during the examination of the operation of the OAY and the GESS by the State Audit Office. He spoke of “opaque contracts” of the OAU with private hospitals and an irregular way of calculating the price of the service charge unit, which results in the same medical operations, having different charges per hospital. He argued that the OAU should establish a framework for cooperation and invite private hospitals to contract with it, if they agree, instead of entering into contracts with each one individually.
He also stressed that the OAU refused to provide a “comprehensive package of services”, contrary to what is provided by law, while he also made special reference to the issue of Accident and Emergency Departments of private hospitals, which are contracted with the GESS, but have not provided the beneficiaries with the services of TAEP.
He also referred to the costs for the treatment of patients abroad, in case the necessary services are not offered within the country, explaining that by law the OAU is obliged to cover them. “Until now, OAU has not covered this cost, which is paid by the Ministry. Health “. The General Director of the Ministry Health, for its part, said that in 2021, a cost of € 23 million was covered for the treatment of 1,000 patients abroad.
Mr. Michailidis also referred to a list of services, estimated at € 120 million, which the OAY requests to be paid by the Ministry. Health. According to the Auditor General, the request to the Ministry to cover the cost of dialysis services, the AIDS clinic, the social centers in remote areas (Polis Chrysochous and Kyperounta), the thalassemia center, the pediatric neurological clinic or the clinical psychiatric clinic was unjustified. of public hospitals.
A special reference was made to the problem that was also pointed out by the Attorney General and concerns the charging of services to beneficiaries of the GESS, by hospitals that are contracted with the OAY.
Five doctors with incomes of € 600,000 in 2020, who have not filed tax returns since 2019
The Auditor General cited examples of physicians who should be audited. He referred to the fact that 20% of GPs have incomes over € 200,000, as in the case of an 80-year-old GP with 2,488 beneficiaries on his list, to a doctor who received € 870,000 for outpatient care in 2020, to a couple of gynecologists who received € 700,000 each. for outpatient services, but also five doctors with incomes & nbsp; over € 600,000 in 2020, who have not filed tax returns since 2019.
they present an increased risk of irregularities “, said Mr. Michailidis. He stressed that there is a lack of an adequate control system and safety valves to contain health expenditures, as “there should be a team of doctors who will examine on a sample basis and not only after complaints”.
He added that in control systems based on sampling “there should be deterrent penalties” and not just rejecting a charge when a problem is identified.
“Finance”, said Konstantinos Petridis
The view that “GESS is the only policy of the state that mutilates the Ministry. Finance Minister “, said the Minister, Konstantinos Petridis during the meeting of the Committee and added that he agrees with the report and the recommendations of the Auditor General.
Referring to the Mercer study, the Minister said that “the GESS should cost around € 1,200 per citizen or € 2,300 per employee. According to the expenses calculated for 2022, in 2022 it will cost € 1,670 per citizen, € 3,222 per employee “. He added that the actual health expenditures that are not included in the OAY budget are € 2,300 per citizen and € 4,400 per employee.
Mr. Petridis said that “the taxpayer pays two or three times the health expenses” because the legislation of the GESS is not properly implemented. “If we wanted to be strict as a government at the moment, we would have to increase contributions by 20% -30% to provide the remaining services,” he said.
“Those who are fighting the GESS are those who refuse to implement the legislation. “With mathematical precision, they lead this great conquest of all to collapse”, the Minister underlined, answering a question of the AKEL MP, George Loukaidis.
Konstantinos Petridis said that the goal is to implement literally the legislation for the operation of the OAU, by adopting the opinions of the Attorney General, defending the global budget. He also said that according to another law, the services not provided by GESS will be offset by the state contribution.
He said that the Ministry requests to have “in the first year information from the OAY on the data concerning the provision of services within the GESS” and stressed that checks should be made. “This is a great social achievement, but the data are very worrying, but when there is a will from everyone, things can be corrected,” he concluded.
Meeting at the Ministry. Health for corrections based on the Advocate General's opinion
In his statements after the meeting, the Minister of Health, Michalis Hadjipandela, said that for a long time his Ministry is in consultation with the OAU, for the corrections that must be made in the health system, as a result of the abuses, to note that the A meeting of the Board of Directors of OAY is scheduled for Tuesday in his presence, with the main topic being the abuses in the GESS and the ways to reduce them.
As Mr. Hadjipandella stated, after deciding on the way to reduce these abuses, they will have a meeting with the Auditor General, who will inform them about the decisions, but to take into account any other suggestions.
Regarding the GESS legislation, he said that his Ministry, always in consultation with the Attorney General, who is his legal advisor, has agreed that any new contracts signed with private hospitals from now on or any other contract renewals will signed, the Advocate General's opinions and approval will be taken into account before the contract is signed.
“So this big issue, ie the implementation of the legislation in private hospitals, we believe will be resolved in the way we have decided, in consultation with the Attorney General,” he said.
Asked to comment on the reports of the Minister of Finance on the collapse of the GESS, if the abuses continue, the Minister of Health admitted that “there are abuses”, noting that these abuses will try to stop them from Tuesday, when decisions will be taken.
Asked if cases will be sent to the Police, he said that “after pressure from the Ministry of Health, some have been taken to the Police, so the water has entered the ditch, so that those who are illegal, can go to court”, he added.
President of the Organization, Thomas Antoniou, saying that in making decisions by the Board. Ministries, workers' representatives, patients, OEB, KEVE and unions are participating.
Responding on behalf of OAY, he rejected the allegations that OAY contracts with private hospitals are illegal.
He stressed that the OAY Council is represented by people from the Ministries of Finance and Health, who did not disagree. “The contracts,” he said, “were co-signed by the former Minister of Health, Konstantinos Ioannou.” costs, such as hospitalization of patients abroad.
He also said that next Tuesday he will have a meeting with the Minister of Health, as well as & nbsp; with the Minister of Finance, to add that they will put things down and we will try to find solutions because they owe it to the Cypriot citizen.
< p> Positions of Members of Parliament
The Chairman of the Committee, Zacharias Koulias, stressed during the discussion that all the necessary checks should be made, as well as corrections in the operation of the OAY, while he called the Audit Office to report its findings to the police.
DISY MP, Savvia Orfanidou, stated after the meeting that “the Democratic Alarm has been and will always be a supporter of the General Health System, which is considered by all as the greatest social achievement and we must all ensure that it is and will remain viable, in within the framework of the global budget set by the legislation “.
Therefore, he concluded, “provocative waste, mismanagement, lack of control system, abuses, distorted methods of paying doctors within the system can not be accepted, nor that the taxpayer pays two or three times for the same thing.” , but the distortions that “will lead to either undermining the quality of services or increasing contributions and ultimately collapsing” need to be corrected.
The Parliamentary Representative of AKEL, George Loukaidis, spoke about “method by the Minister of Finance”, which as he said “aims to affect the viability of the GESS”, after noting today they were informed about the unilateral decision of YPOIK, to cut beyond 103 million from GESS, at the same time claiming another 50 million cuts.
He denounced the government's “methods” and demanded the revocation of the unilateral decisions taken, saying that “obviously because the GESS was and remains viable and robust, the rulers seek to injure and undermine its viability and prospects, with such decisions, ie unilateral deductions from the contributions, which must and must be paid by the Ministry of Finance to the GESS “.
The Parliamentary Representative EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, said that his party considers that immediate steps need to be taken to rectify this situation, before it is too late, to add that “the responsibilities of the government are very great”.
As he said “since OAY does not cooperate, in order to properly implement the legislation and to properly manage the taxpayer's money, it must proceed to decisions, possibly, to replace the OAY Board of Directors.”
The Member of Parliament for Ecologists, Stavros Papadouris, stated that the Auditor General's Report has identified abuses in the operation of the OAU and the Auditor General will proceed with complaints to the Attorney General. He also argued that the intention of the Minister is justified. Finance to cut a total amount of € 150 million from OAY, as these are payments that can not be covered by OAY and finally pass to the Ministry. Health, as he stated.
“GESS is a social conquest”, he added and stressed that “the control that is being done today is not to change, but to support the existing framework as a single insurance system”. He conveyed the assurance of the Minister. Health that the GESS will not change and concluded that where the corrections should go, where they should be made, and where there are responsibilities, they should be attributed.
“We support the GESS as a social conquest of our people, which we will ensure with the mono-insurance system “, said the MP of DIPA, Alekos Tryfonidis, after the meeting. He added that corrections must be made due to the shortcomings we have identified and & nbsp; through the report of the Auditor General, which provides data on illegalities, abuses, inequality of pay and treatment of hospitals, lack of quality criteria, medical protocols and tax evasion by some doctors, as he said.
“We demand as a Democratic Party “Cooperation of Democratic Forces, such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Auditor General and the ODA to find solutions in order to build an effective internal control department”, he added and concluded that they will ask for & nbsp; to present all these plans and plans with specific timetable, before the OAU budget is voted.
