The Parliamentary Committee for the Monitoring of Public Expenditure Development and Control Plans met today, Thursday, 10 March 2022, in the presence of the Auditor General and the Directors General of the Ministries of Finance and Health, the Chairman of the Board and the Deputy Director General of the Health Insurance Agency (HIA) and other stakeholders, to continue the ex officio review of the Auditor General's Annual Report for the Year 2020 [HEALTH INSURANCE AGENCY MANAGEMENT AUDIT, SPECIAL REPORT 4.2.2022 (OAS/01/2022)] (File No. 23.04.039.002-2022, 05.14.007.001), in which the views of all stakeholders were submitted.
The Auditor General informed the Committee that his office is continuing to investigate various cases of abuse on the basis of an assessment of the number and timing of medical procedures performed by personal and specialist doctors and, where possible criminal offences are found to have been committed, the Police will be informed. Regarding the issue of the purchase of medical equipment and medicines, he added that this is governed by the Public Procurement Law and, according to the results of the ongoing investigation of the Audit Office, the latter may address the European Commission in order to examine the compatibility of the procedures followed by OAI with the EU legislation on public procurement. Any delay, he noted, possibly observed/observed in sending the requested data from other stakeholders was due to data protection issues and the understaffing of the organisation. He further stressed that the unilateral withdrawal of a total amount of approximately €150 million from OAI is institutionally risky and potentially damaging to the viability of the organisation. Regarding the issue of setting a different base rate between hospitals, he acknowledged the existence of this differentiation, which, however, was adopted as a transitional arrangement until the introduction of relevant quality criteria.
The representative of the Pancyprian Association of Private Hospitals (PASIN) stated that the autonomy of public hospitals should have preceded the implementation of the FTA and that the modification of the fees of hospitals on the basis of quality criteria and the relevant accreditation was expected. In addition, he mentioned the important role of private hospitals in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that public hospitals are not covered by the Private Hospitals Act and the need to include the Accident and Emergency Departments (AEDs) and the Ambulance Service of private hospitals in the FTA.
The representative of the Federation of Cyprus Patients' Associations (CPA) said he was satisfied with the access of patients to all medicines through the PPA and pointed out that what should be pursued is the provision of better quality services to meet the needs of patients. In this regard, he noted, efforts should be made both to upgrade the quality of services provided and eliminate abuses and to establish an independent agency/institution to assess the quality of services provided and health care providers contracted to the PPA.
With regard to the issue of the deduction of the aforementioned amount from the OAS on the basis of the set-off made by the Ministry of Finance, the Director General of the Ministry of Finance stated that this decision was taken on the basis of an opinion of the Attorney General of the Republic. Furthermore, he pointed out that OAI should operate within the framework of the budget of the GESY, on the basis of the contributions of employers and employees and without the additional burden on public finances.
The representative of the Union of Private Doctors of Cyprus (ENIC) referred to weaknesses and omissions of OAI and the need to renegotiate the terms of the contracts signed by OAI with private hospitals. In addition, he noted that all parties involved are now reimbursed by OAI only if they are contracted by the GHS, but there is still a need for the organisation to implement an adequate internal control system.
The representative of the Pancyprian Medical Association (PIS) recommended that OAI utilize the recommendations of PIS regarding the operation of the GESY, as recorded in a study conducted by PIS in 2017, and requested that the necessary actions for the approval of the relevant Regulations be promoted immediately.
The Committee requested the submission of information regarding the structure and staffing of the OAI and the OCYP and decided to continue the discussion of this issue at its next meeting.
Secretariat of the Parliamentary Committee for the Monitoring of Public Expenditure Development Plans and Control
Email: parliamentary-committees@parliament.cy
(MΓ)
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