Kyriacos Christofi of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), the body responsible for the design and implementation of the National Health Scheme (NHS), said yesterday that government procrastination gave him little cause to continue with his work.
“The [NHS] goal is becoming more distant and I see no reason to continue,” Christofi said.
Christofi had submitted his resignation on Thursday in reaction to the government’s statements that the NHS could still not be implemented.
The Health and Finance Ministries postponed the scheme in Parliament in late February, citing finances and caution as two reasons not to rush. At the same parliamentary meeting, Christofi asked for “clear instructions” by the government which were not given.
“There is currently no political will to implement the NHS, using high cost as an excuse,” Cyprus Workers’ Union (SEK) said in early March adding that those who end up paying the price are “not politicians and the privileged but instead the average citizen and wage earner who are oppressed every day at state hospitals.”
Two separate studies (by consulting firms Mercer and McKinsey) have concluded that the state will save about €1 billion in ten years by implementing the NHS.
Since 2003, the HIO has only spent €19 million, more than half of its €45 million approved budget. HIO received nothing in 2010 as it had a financial surplus.
The EU Cross-border Directive deadline looms large with a 2013 implementation date and will give Europeans access to services that Cypriots are still not entitled to. Christofi urged for immediate action back in February pointing out that the NHS “has a moving deadline of two and a half years.” This is because the HIO needs the Finance Ministry’s go-ahead on final tenders for the IT system, which it hasn’t as of yet.
Asked at the time why they were delaying, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis refused to comment.
Cyprus is the only European Union country lacking a NHS. Its public expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP is – at 2.5 per cent – “substantially below the EU average (7.4 per cent in 2008),” a 2010 EU Council report said.
The original NHS bill was submitted to Parliament ten years ago in 2001.
Christofi submitted his resignation to Cabinet via the Health Minister, Christos Patsalides. If Cabinet committed to a timeframe for the implementation of the NHS, then I would be willing to stay, Christofi has nonetheless said.
