The proposal of the President of the EPP was discussed in heated tones on Thursday at the session of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Marinos Sizopoulos,[/B] which proposes changes to the way the GESY operates and more specifically suggests that doctors outside the system should be able to prescribe medicines and other examinations within the framework of the GESY.
During the session there were reactions from members of the Health Committee, as well as from stakeholders, and there was talk of a proposal "that alters the philosophy of the YESY".
The President of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), Thomas Antoniou, said that "this proposal alters the philosophy and the architecture of the GHS, and will incentivise doctors to leave the system".
He said that "the invocation of the human right to access to health is not tenable, because in essence this proposal subverts the patient's right itself, which is implemented through the health system", adding that "any changes to the GHS, that improve its functioning are welcome, but changes that alter its philosophy and architecture will only result in the collapse of the GHS and the patient's right to free and equal access to health care".
He also noted that this proposal creates two categories of doctors and two categories of patients.
Health Committee Chairman Efthimios Diplaros said that any changes being discussed today are not about changing the philosophy and architecture of the GHC, adding that DISY believes that "errors, omissions and abuses" of the system must be corrected.
He said the aim of any changes being discussed is to improve the quality of services provided to patients, assuring that these changes will not alter the philosophy and architecture of the GESY.
In statements after the meeting, AKEL parliamentary representative George Loukaides referred to a "blatant conflict of interest" of the rapporteur of the proposal, since he belongs to the small minority of doctors who have not joined the GESY and his proposal apparently aims to serve the interests of health providers who have chosen to remain outside the GESY.
"A serious issue of order arises, which should be of concern to the institutions of the Parliament," Loulaides said, noting that from the very beginning when this idea was expressed, his party has expressed its strong opposition.
According to George Loukaidis, "this proposed law consciously aims to dismantle the philosophy, but also to damage the architecture of the YESY," to note that "those who fought and did everything to prevent health providers, doctors and hospitals to join the GHS, are now looking for ways to give them incentives to push them out of the GHS, given that more than 90% have decided and joined the system".
He added that this proposal "creates centrifugal tendencies, for doctors who have joined the GESY and this will first of all harm patients," to go on to say that the proposal should have done the exact opposite, that is to give incentives to those doctors who have stayed out of the system to want to join it.
Loukaidis noted that "something like this would open the back door for there to be demands of a similar nature, no longer just from doctors, but also from hospitals that would be legitimized to claim similar treatment."
For his part, the President of the EPP argued that the proposed law does not impose additional costs on the system and will regulate the patient's right to have free and direct access to any doctor they want, to note that this regulation applies both in Greece and in Britain in a different way.
He referred to "unrealistic arguments of some", because it does not burden the system, but instead facilitates it, to note that with this proposal he aims to provide better care and quality of health to citizens, as well as helping to relieve the long waiting lists that currently exist in some specialties.
He stressed that for the EPP it is "unjustifiable the attitude of some to fight this proposal", which, he underlined, "essentially serves only the patients and especially those from the low-income classes of Cyprus."
Responding to Mr. Loukaidis, who referred to a "blatant conflict of interest", Sizopoulos said that "there is no conflict of interest", adding that he asked for the list of dermatological drugs to be provided so that the number is less than ten and that these are drugs that are too cheap.
DIKO parliamentary representative Panicos Leonidou said that his party is not in favour of the abolition of the health system, noting that this process, which works for the benefit of citizens and patients, should definitely be preserved.
However, she noted that "on the other hand, whatever gaps exist, we have to find ways to address and fill them," adding that "the Sizopoulos proposal can be another case that we could put it in the context of an overall discussion to cover other cases and other gaps that create inequalities and issues of legitimacy and individual freedoms."
Leonidou said his party is ready to discuss, without giving the impression that it is in any way attempting to alter or interfere with the central idea and philosophy of the YESY.
DPA-Cooperation MP Michael Yakoomi reiterated his party's position that "GESY is the greatest social achievement and we must ensure its sustainability, it is and must remain as a single-payer health plan, as well as improve it, especially in terms of issues, control and quality."
He noted that this proposed law incentivizes doctors to opt out of the GHS, adding that it creates two categories of doctors and two categories of patients.
"There are already issues of control and abuses in the GESY by some doctors who are within the GESY, I wonder how these doctors will be controlled, who will be outside but with this law proposal will be able to prescribe within the GESY," he added.
Source: CNA
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