Patronages and trade unions disagree with increase of compulsory medical insurance

Social partners of the Government – Patronages and Trade unions – are indignant with the fact that the Government did not take into account their opinion when approving the Law of compulsory medical assistance insurance fund for 2007, which includes increasing the compulsory medical premium and policy. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions from Moldova “Solidaritate” considers that these increases will lead to major fiscal pressures both for economic agents and employees. According to the trade union, examining the possibility of increasing them will be possible only when the wage will reach the level of “the reproduction cost of the labor force” and medical services provided to the population will be improved. In a letter addressed to the Parliament, the trade unions ask to maintain in 2007 the cost of the compulsory medical premium to the level of 2006 (2% on the account of employers and 2% - employee). As well, the amendment of the law is solicited so that employers can ensure to each employee compulsory medical insurance polices with a fixed sum, which would be estimated and settled every year by the Parliament. The executive director of the National Confederation of Patronages, Adrian Axente told Info-Prim Neo that the patronages several times announced the Government, Ministry of Health and Social Protection, National Company for Insurances in Medicine that it does not accept the increase of the medical insurances. “It is not a proper period for the increase of this tax and it is not compatible with the macroeconomic indexes”, the cited source declared. Axente mentioned that these increases will generate price increases of services and goods. As well, he says, that employers could dismiss personnel because of the lack of resources to cover supplementary expenses. The chairman of the Trade Union “Sanatatea”, of the Trade Unions Confederation from Moldova, Victor Benu, says that the increase of the insurance premium and of policy’s cost is an unavoidable measure generated by the recent increase in price of medicaments and introduction of new services in the package of insured medical services, such as ensuring free of charge treatment of patients with tuberculosis, implementing the informational insurance program, as well as due to the increase in price of natural gas, transport etc. According to Benu, the increase of contributions for insured medicine, is also necessary because of the fact that at present the accumulations to the fund of medical insurances is not covering even on third of necessities. He mentioned that the patients are forced to pay more in order to fully treat, thus they are neither pleased, as well as the doctors who have a wage of only MDL 1200. In this context, the increase of medical insurance contributions has also the purpose to contribute to the increase of wages for medical employees, in case the medical institutions will be financially autonomous and the wages will be paid out of these contributions. “We asked to perform payment of wages from the budget, so that the wage of the medical workers would be ensured by the state not by the contributions, but the authorities rejected this proposal”, Benu emphasized. According to him, the tariff salary in medicine, MDL 415, is lower than that of the agricultural workers, for whom a tarrif salary of MDL 550 was settled. According to Benu, the population understands that without insurances they will not be able to face the costs of the paid medicine, however for the insured medicine supplementary resources are needed in order to fully treat and for obtaining more compensate medicaments. In the draft Law on compulsory medical assistance insurance fund for 2007, recently approved by the Government is stipulated the increase of the compulsory medical assistance premium from 4%, in 2006 (2% from employer and 2% from employee) to 5% (2.5% from employer and 2.5% from employee). As well, it stipulates the increase in price of the medical policy from MDL 816 to MDL 1209 and by 12.1% of the state budget expenses for insurance of persons on state’s account.