Some of you may be aware from the intense media coverage that the current public health service will be changing into a national health system this year. This will have implications on many of us, particularly those of us who use the general hospitals, and will start taking effect from 1st March this year.
However, From the information I have read the working of the new system seems unclear, to me at least. I have worked out the following:
1. Everyone will have to sign up with a personal doctor (think GP in the UK) and that is the one you will see from then on. You sign up on line or approach the doctor direct if you can't use the internet for whatever reason.
2. Pensioners and employees will have to pay 1.7% of their income into the new system. Different rates for self-employed etc.
3. It is only available to permanent residents.
4. Prescription charges will increase to from the current 50 cents to 1 euro per item.
There will be other changes but I haven't dug into them yet.
Gesy mystery
Re: Gesy mystery
Hi
Have been wondering how this will work.How will we pay the 1.7%(increasing to 2.6% next year).Considering this is supposed to happen in five weeks time,not much has been announced,except the hundreds of doctors who are not going to participate.
I just hope the system works and improves things.
Have been wondering how this will work.How will we pay the 1.7%(increasing to 2.6% next year).Considering this is supposed to happen in five weeks time,not much has been announced,except the hundreds of doctors who are not going to participate.
I just hope the system works and improves things.
Re: Gesy mystery
It is all a bit of a mystery at the moment, including do ex pat pensioners have to pay into this and as Tonee says how will we pay into it..
We are already signed up with a private doctor in Chloraka.. Will this be adequate.. What will we do when we need to see a consultant at the General ...
I too have read that he prescription charge will change to 1 euro per item.. ie per box of pills, not per item on the prescription form..
Loads of questions but not much info out there
We are already signed up with a private doctor in Chloraka.. Will this be adequate.. What will we do when we need to see a consultant at the General ...
I too have read that he prescription charge will change to 1 euro per item.. ie per box of pills, not per item on the prescription form..
Loads of questions but not much info out there
Trev..
Re: Gesy mystery
As Trev says, the UK is currently paying for Expat pensioners and no clarification from Cyprus or UK on if that payment will continue. If individuals do have to pay, as a Dependant on my husband's medical card, will he also have to pay for my state health care as I have no income? If the prescription charge changes to €1 per item that could have a big difference.
As with so many things these days, it's just a case of wait and see.
As with so many things these days, it's just a case of wait and see.
Re: Gesy mystery
Went toma P3A sponsored talk given by a well know doctor who is now involved with the setting up od GESY. He painted a more rosy picture, but realistically it is still unclear where/ who the doctors who have signed up will be. He said that a list of participating doctors will be published in due course. The actual service of seeing a doctor will be free, yes, pensioners may have to pay 1.7% of pension income. But who knows how it would be collected? The UK may continue to pick up this bill possibly, but given the mess the UK establishment of politicians have made of Brexit, again who knows. Even if there is a charge for prescriptions it will prob be nominal and much less that rrp of the drug.People will have to go thru their GP instead of going direct to a specialist. But despite nearness of date of implementation of GESY, a lot still seems to wait to be decided.
Dee
Dee
Re: Gesy mystery
Re " People will have to go thru their GP instead of going direct to a specialist. " Many people like myself do not see a GP at the hospital. We have appointments already made with different consultants.
Trev..
Re: Gesy mystery
I think that the doctor giving us the talk last Saturday said that in cases like yours, Trev where people are already under the care od consultants/ specialists will not be affected. It is people trying to do a self referral direct to a consultant who will have to go through their nominated GP.
Dee
Dee
Re: Gesy mystery
That is a weird coincidence as this morning I decided to do some research into this as we have only been in Cyprus for a few months and I had heard there were going to be changes, I think what really confused me as well is that they seem to be calling it the NHS which in my mind meant English health care, I think I am easily confused lol, anyway I came across a great website which is
https://talanews.blogspot.com/2017/05/q ... s-new.html
which seems to cover a lot of questions, and half way down I read the following
15. How will NHS contributions be collected?
In order to avoid any public inconvenience and with the aim of low administrative costs, existing infrastructures operating in the Republic are utilised. In particular, the mechanism of the Social Insurance Services, the Tax Department and the Treasury Department is used to collect the contributions. Depending on the type of income of the individual, the contributions are collected by the above services / departments.
So it seems in the case of my hubby and myself it would be the Tax Department that would collect the cost.
Anyway I hope I haven't gotten everything muddled and that you are all talking of something completely different, as that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest lol, but if we are all talking about the same thing its a great article to read.
https://talanews.blogspot.com/2017/05/q ... s-new.html
which seems to cover a lot of questions, and half way down I read the following
15. How will NHS contributions be collected?
In order to avoid any public inconvenience and with the aim of low administrative costs, existing infrastructures operating in the Republic are utilised. In particular, the mechanism of the Social Insurance Services, the Tax Department and the Treasury Department is used to collect the contributions. Depending on the type of income of the individual, the contributions are collected by the above services / departments.
So it seems in the case of my hubby and myself it would be the Tax Department that would collect the cost.
Anyway I hope I haven't gotten everything muddled and that you are all talking of something completely different, as that wouldn't surprise me in the slightest lol, but if we are all talking about the same thing its a great article to read.
Re: Gesy mystery
Some people though are not registered with the Tax system 
Some have said they do not need to join it..
And if the tax system take the contributions, I wonder if the UK Government will no longer be paying for us..
I think it will be a wait and see game... And then maybe the words "They can't do that"
Some have said they do not need to join it.. And if the tax system take the contributions, I wonder if the UK Government will no longer be paying for us..
I think it will be a wait and see game... And then maybe the words "They can't do that"
Trev..
Re: Gesy mystery
Yes that's true, we can't get a tax number for six months and a few people we know have said they don't intend to, so then how can they take the money...I am confused as usual lol, I think I will give up researching it all and give my head a rest, and you are right its just wait and see, slightly worrying though.
Re: Gesy mystery
From a recent post: ''In particular, the mechanism of the Social Insurance Services, the Tax Department and the Treasury Department is used to collect the contributions''.
The current year will be the last year when it will not be mandatory for a Cypriot tax resident under the tax-free annual income limit of €19500 to file a tax return. From 2019 everyone will be required to submit a tax declaration.
According to Finance Minister Haris Georgiades who was presenting the 2019 budget at the House of Representatives, the measure is aimed at ''closing any window of tax evasion’’.
"Even those who are not liable for a tax payment will need a few minutes to confirm that they are tax-free," the Minister noted.
http://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news ... -of-income
I am seeing my accountant tomorrow to see if it is necessary for me to submit a Cyprus Tax Return. I am resident in Cyprus but have no income.
.
The current year will be the last year when it will not be mandatory for a Cypriot tax resident under the tax-free annual income limit of €19500 to file a tax return. From 2019 everyone will be required to submit a tax declaration.
According to Finance Minister Haris Georgiades who was presenting the 2019 budget at the House of Representatives, the measure is aimed at ''closing any window of tax evasion’’.
"Even those who are not liable for a tax payment will need a few minutes to confirm that they are tax-free," the Minister noted.
http://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news ... -of-income
I am seeing my accountant tomorrow to see if it is necessary for me to submit a Cyprus Tax Return. I am resident in Cyprus but have no income.
.
Re: Gesy mystery
Can I suggest people start writing to the High Commission to seek advice. They are meant to be there to give us guidance and advice, aren't they?
Re: Gesy mystery (Cyprus Mail last November)
Cyprus Mail. Last November from a previous thread on this topic.
Doctors and the health insurance organisation agreed on Monday to launch an intensive dialogue this week in a bid to resolve differences in the run-up to the adoption of the national health scheme (Gesy).
The two sides met with Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou and agreed to hold meetings to discuss issues relating to personal doctors, specialists, and their fees, how the fees will be set, and private medicine.
The two sides want to wrap up talks by Friday so as to review the results in a new meeting with the minister next Monday.
Ioannou thanked both sides for their response and stressed that good will would help achieve the necessary convergences to overcome any deadlocks.
“Our effort is to find the solution and framework to allay the doctors’ concerns to a great extent,” the minister said.
Chairman of the medical association, Petros Agathangelou, said the objective was to secure the best possible result for the public, “a system that meets its basic aspects, universality, accessibility, and social solidarity.”
The head of the health insurance organisation Thomas Antoniou appeared certain there will be a positive outcome.
“Certain meetings have been set for tomorrow and the day after, so we have a lot of work that must be done,” he said. “By Monday I am sure we will have a very positive result.”
The medical association insists the one billion euro budget for the scheme is not enough, which is doomed to fail.
It has repeatedly warned that the budget falls short by as much as €300m, according to some reports.
The EU average for health services is between eight and 10 per cent of GDP. The Cyprus government has allocated only five per cent of GDP for Gesy.
Doctors and the health insurance organisation agreed on Monday to launch an intensive dialogue this week in a bid to resolve differences in the run-up to the adoption of the national health scheme (Gesy).
The two sides met with Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou and agreed to hold meetings to discuss issues relating to personal doctors, specialists, and their fees, how the fees will be set, and private medicine.
The two sides want to wrap up talks by Friday so as to review the results in a new meeting with the minister next Monday.
Ioannou thanked both sides for their response and stressed that good will would help achieve the necessary convergences to overcome any deadlocks.
“Our effort is to find the solution and framework to allay the doctors’ concerns to a great extent,” the minister said.
Chairman of the medical association, Petros Agathangelou, said the objective was to secure the best possible result for the public, “a system that meets its basic aspects, universality, accessibility, and social solidarity.”
The head of the health insurance organisation Thomas Antoniou appeared certain there will be a positive outcome.
“Certain meetings have been set for tomorrow and the day after, so we have a lot of work that must be done,” he said. “By Monday I am sure we will have a very positive result.”
The medical association insists the one billion euro budget for the scheme is not enough, which is doomed to fail.
It has repeatedly warned that the budget falls short by as much as €300m, according to some reports.
The EU average for health services is between eight and 10 per cent of GDP. The Cyprus government has allocated only five per cent of GDP for Gesy.
Jim.
Re: Gesy mystery
I hope it will not be mandatory to join that new NHS. At least not for those who already have health insurance. E. g. most German pensioners like myself have to contribute to mandatory German health insurance (it will be withheld automatically from pensions before payout) so they don´t need something like NHS. By the way I wonder whether 3.4 % of income will be anywhere near what is needed to cover the cost. The German rate is 18% (for health and nursing insurance combined), shared between employers and employees.
Re: Gesy mystery
Would you mind sharing with us what your accountant thinks? I was told by Larnaca tax office that you have to file if your income is beyond 19500.- even if you enjoy non-domiciled-status (for which you have to apply separately) even if you have no taxable income whatsoever. This is in contrast to what I was told by a consulting company. So now I´m totally confused.
Re: Gesy mystery
They could e. g. simply make it mandatory for employers and pension insurances to withhold social security contributions (like the cost for health cover) and income tax from any payouts. That´s how it´s done in Germany.
Re: Gesy mystery
JEBA: The only information I can give, following my discussion with the accountant this morning and who had been to the Tax Office earlier this week, is that I do not have to submit a Cyprus Tax Return. My status will be reviewed when I become eligible for the UK State Pension.
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mike strand2
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Re: Gesy mystery
A letter was published in The Cyprus Mail on 13.0119 which makes for concern for our healthcare in the future:-
I’m a GP resident in Cyprus currently training towards my specialisation and since the general public is not aware about what’s going on regarding the national health scheme I would like to ask you to please post this.
In order for the new health scheme (Gesy) to start functioning in Cyprus the government is trying to fill the places designated for specialised GPs by offering unspecialised doctors – without any residency – 200 hours (ca. 30 days) of training as they do not have enough qualified family physicians
currently.
In other words, four years of GP training and specialty exams will be made equal to only 200 hours. Not only is this unfair to both doctors and patients, but it is also immoral and unethical in keeping with current healthcare standards.
How can a doctor be qualified to provide proper care and treat patients safely after having completed 200 hours of training? This is dangerous and reckless, not to mention illegal and utterly unacceptable.
Unfortunately, as we try to stand up for our rights as doctors, as well as speak up about the safety of our patients, most of the public is left in the dark about this ugly truth.
Everyone should be made aware about this urgent matter.
Stay informed people and don’t accept anything less than you deserve: excellent healthcare provided by properly qualified doctors.
DV, via email
https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/01/13/the- ... ealthcare/
I’m a GP resident in Cyprus currently training towards my specialisation and since the general public is not aware about what’s going on regarding the national health scheme I would like to ask you to please post this.
In order for the new health scheme (Gesy) to start functioning in Cyprus the government is trying to fill the places designated for specialised GPs by offering unspecialised doctors – without any residency – 200 hours (ca. 30 days) of training as they do not have enough qualified family physicians
currently.
In other words, four years of GP training and specialty exams will be made equal to only 200 hours. Not only is this unfair to both doctors and patients, but it is also immoral and unethical in keeping with current healthcare standards.
How can a doctor be qualified to provide proper care and treat patients safely after having completed 200 hours of training? This is dangerous and reckless, not to mention illegal and utterly unacceptable.
Unfortunately, as we try to stand up for our rights as doctors, as well as speak up about the safety of our patients, most of the public is left in the dark about this ugly truth.
Everyone should be made aware about this urgent matter.
Stay informed people and don’t accept anything less than you deserve: excellent healthcare provided by properly qualified doctors.
DV, via email
https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/01/13/the- ... ealthcare/
Re: Gesy mystery
My understanding is that, as someone else mentioned, EVERYONEwill need to register with the tax office. I believe the 1.7% will be taken from almost everyone, in one form or another. It is akin to U.K. National Insurance, where all contribute, but you can choose to go private also. I would imagine there will be some system in place that will show when you register at the hospital that proves you are paying in. No pay, no doctor! It is worrying that with o my a few weeks to implementation, that so little advice or instructions, are out there! We shall carry on as we are, until told different! I wouldn't be surprised if it gets put back!
