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There is a new category in Cyprus society which is unrelated to the usual metrics of household earnings, education or social status.
This is the new ‘privileged class’ which the government has created by bending over backwards to satisfy the whims of civil servants and semi-government workers, who will now enjoy a premium service when it comes to the general health scheme.
As with all the demands this administration has succumbed to, simply to ensure that the incomes of those in the ‘privileged class’ will be unaffected by any economic downturn.
The government has gone against its own decision from last February with the cabinet deciding this week that it will provide supplemental health care facilities, instead of abolishing the state-subsidised medical funds altogether come next June.
Already, the burden on private sector workers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are growing, making it extremely hard to survive, let alone compete on home ground or even abroad.
Contributions to support the frail GHS are not producing the expected results, and fast enough, while the numbers of physicians and institutions joining the national health scheme are still trickling through.
With a critical mass not yet attained, the government’s decision to speed up additional privileges to public sector staff was premature and miscalculated, ignoring the needs of three-quarters of the island’s workforce.
Hoteliers and tourism sector businesses are already finding it hard to compete with lower-cost rival destinations, while exporters are finding their products are getting more expensive by the day, as the government needs alternative contributions to pay for the wage-reinstatement of civil servants and their supplemental GHS bonus.
Patients are already worried that essential services will be reduced or spread over a long time due to cost, such as the Papanicolaou smear test for adult women, while the breast screening programme seems to remain intact for fear of upsetting the popular ‘pink ladies’ campaign.
Instead of creating two categories of citizens, which the present administration is doing, it should have focused on improving meritocracy in labour issues within the public sector, by introducing measures such as productivity and value-added.
The plan to give autonomy to state hospitals, with separate budgets and management, seems to be dragging its feet and no-one, at least as regards support from the trade unions and the political parties is concerned, wants to rock the boat.
No wonder many people are hesitant to give up on their private medical plans, which assures them quality healthcare regardless of the GHS.
Those who can’t afford private plans should exercise more, dress warmly and adopt a healthier diet, as they cannot afford to get ill anymore.
