The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Discuss medical issues, and help each other navigate the available options for the Health Service in Cyprus.
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memory man
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The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by memory man »

Just ahead of Friday’s Parliament vote on opening the way to hospital autonomy and a game-changing National Health Scheme, Health Minister George Pamboridis spoke to the Cyprus Weekly about exactly how patients will benefit from the new system.

“The main difference of the Cyprus NHS from other national health systems in Europe is that it does not seek to provide free and universal access to all citizens solely through public hospitals,” Pamboridis said.

He described it as a purely patient-centred system instead seeks to unify public and private resources “in a way that would allow the patient to decide, on his own, the service provider who will fit his or her needs”.

The other major difference is that the NHS will be financed through a mixed system.

“It will be partly financed by the state, but also by salary earners and their employers. This is also unique, because in most systems in Europe, health systems are financed centrally,” the Health Minister said.

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trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

Thanks for posting this Brian.. I have not yet read it all. I see Pensioners will need to contribute weekly or monthly.. I wonder if this includes ex pat pensioners and I wonder how will they collect the premiums . Or will ex pats be exempt because the UK (at present) pay for us..

This paragraph was also interesting...
"Everyone will also be free to supplement this mandatory coverage with private-sector health insurance, either to cover specialised services not covered by Gesy (for instance, branded medicines), or for purposes of securing things like ward upgrades for in-hospital stays – or even to be able to do away with Gesy rules altogether and visit any doctor, whether Gesy-affiliated or not, at any time."

Trev..
Last edited by trevnhil on Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Trev..
jeba
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by jeba »

Would that mean that you'll have waiting times in private hospitals or at private doctors as long as in public institutions?
trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

I would not have thought so. There are many private Hospitals and clinics here, and lots of private doctors.
You can see a private doctor or surgeon in Paphos with only a few minutes wait. The cost is around 30 to 35 euros..

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jeba
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by jeba »

trevnhil wrote: Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:22 am I would not have thought so. There are many private Hospitals and clinics here, and lots of private doctors.
You can see a private doctor or surgeon in Paphos with only a few minutes wait. The cost is around 30 to 35 euros..

Trev..
Yes, but currently those private doctors are catering to a minority only. What will the situation be like if everyone one will have access to them?
Last edited by jeba on Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

They will obviously be a little busier, but as I said there are lots of them here.

And if they are busier then the state doctors will be able to see people a little quicker than now.

There really is no problem seeing a doctor here at least in my experience..

Trev..
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jeba
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by jeba »

trevnhil wrote: Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:36 am
There really is no problem seeing a doctor here at least in my experience..
Not yet, but how will it be like if the private sector will cater to everybody rather than maybe 20% of the population?
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

A little busier, but not that much I would guess. And a guess is all that anyone can make until it actually happens.

Stop worrying :-)
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ApusApus
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by ApusApus »

jeba wrote: Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:50 am
trevnhil wrote: Sun Jun 18, 2017 7:36 am
There really is no problem seeing a doctor here at least in my experience..
Not yet, but how will it be like if the private sector will cater to everybody rather than maybe 20% of the population?
I presume that if you have the choice then you will consider any potential waiting time & probably choose a doctor that you can see quickly whether that doctor is in the private sector or not!


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trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

But of course that happens today, but if you choose private you have to pay.... If in the future you are having deductions taken from your wages that enable you to see a 'private' practitioner then you would probably go there.
My wife and I use a combination of the Public sector, ie Hospital doctors and village doctors and the A&E service. And we also use private GP's and consultants at private Hospitals... (paying of course)

But I have to say that when I discovered a worrying condition, I just went to the Hospital and waited outside the consultants door. When he came out I told him my problem and I was seen within minutes, and prescribed medication..

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WHL
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by WHL »

Hope this comes to fruition ... Will be a great asset to everyone living in Cyprus.
trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

But of course at an additional cost to everyone.. I am not sure how everyone will feel about the money coming out of their wage packets. And of course this will be whether they are ill or not.

But a good NHS would be a boon for everyone. I think at the moment some people 'fall through the net'

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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by WHL »

I dont think anyone can moan, ..NHS are not cheap to run, considering the financial mess Cyprus has been under the last few years, its a marvel, they can get something like this going.
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

It wasn't meant as a moan, but just a factual comment..

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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by memory man »

Free healthcare milestone: what it means, what hurdles remain

Although a monumental step forward after decades of fruitless discussion, Friday’s voting of laws introducing the national health system (Gesy) was but one of several more required for the reform to materialise.

Universal coverage, equitable healthcare and free choice for patients are the key pillars supporting the planned system, with all income-earners, employers and the state, contributing a part of their revenues to help fund its operation.

Everyone will also be free to supplement this mandatory coverage with private-sector health insurance, either to cover specialised services not covered by Gesy (for instance, branded medicines), or for purposes of securing things like ward upgrades for in-hospital stays – or even to be able to do away with Gesy rules altogether and visit any doctor, whether Gesy-affiliated or not, at any time.

As agreed unanimously by the political leadership, on March 1, 2019, the payment of partial contributions into Gesy will start, with wage-earners, pensioners, income-earners and state officials contributing 1.7 per cent of their income, employers 1.85 per cent of their payroll, the state 1.65 per cent and the self-employed 2.55 per cent.

Three months later, Phase 1 of Gesy will be rolled out, which will feature out-of-hospital care only.

On March 1, 2020, proper contributions will be imposed, with wage-earners, pensioners, income-earners and state officials paying 2.65 per cent of their income, employers 2.9 per cent of their payroll, the state 4.7 per cent and the self-employed 4 per cent.

Phase 2 will see the full Gesy offering unveiled on June 1, 2020.

Various co-payments, put in place chiefly to prevent abuse of the system, will cost a maximum €10, with an annual cap of €300 per patient and €75 for pensioners and state-aid recipients.

What Gesy will mean to patients is free choice of a general practitioner – or ‘family doctor’ – for any and all visits, free of charge, who may then refer them to a specialist doctor as needed (with the exception of dental or gynaecological issues, for which patients can visit a specialist of their choice directly).

But, as pointed out by numerous MPs during Friday’s House debate, until free healthcare and free choice enter our lives, several risks threaten to undermine implementation of the massive reform.

According to the agreed timelines, by the end of this year the government needs to have found and appointed the board for the organisation that will implement and oversee state-hospital autonomy.

As envisioned, state hospitals must become individual entities, independent of each other and, crucially, the health ministry, and learn to operate on a budget, before being pitted against each other and private hospitals in direct competition when Gesy is introduced.

This is because one of the main goals of Gesy is to contain expenditures and eliminate waste, by making sure “the money goes where the patient goes”, in the sense that the money allotted to each hospital will be the direct result of patient preference.

The organisation – the State Health Services Organisation (SHSO) – will be tasked with making several key decisions, with costing perhaps the one bound to cause the most friction.

An itemised pricing list for medical interventions and all other healthcare-related goods and services will be prepared, with Gesy-affiliated practitioners paid according to the number of interventions they perform, at the agreed price.

The SHSO will also be mandated with hiring staff to operate the new entities – each individual state hospital – according to the provisions of the regulations passed on Friday.

In addition, by the time the phasing-in of Gesy provisions starts – June 2019 – the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), which was created in 2001 to administer the planned Gesy, must have arranged for the deployment of the required software, without which introduction of any facet of the system is impossible.

Still, perhaps the single greatest threat to Gesy is political, rather than practical. Unanimous agreement on the need to introduce a universal-coverage health system notwithstanding, presidential elections in February next year mean implementation will inevitably be seen through by a new administration.

Days before Friday’s House vote, a tweet by Health Minister Giorgos Pamboridis claimed the vested interests that oppose Gesy had launched its “last-ditch effort” to find a political party leader – “for the role of Judas” – to stop the Gesy train in its tracks, “and it looks as though they found him”.

Several fingers were pointed at Diko and Edek leaders, wild rumours of ruling Disy’s involvement also made the rounds, angry denials were issued, and a silent Pamboridis revelled in the frantic, and very public, hunt for ‘Judas’ that all but guaranteed no one would want to be seen as being on the wrong side of the Gesy debate.

But whoever ‘Judas’ may have been, if there ever was one, the possibility that he – or she – might be part of the next government cannot be ruled out.

On the other hand, reversing course at this point may be harder than it sounds. Both last July’s deal among political parties – the ‘roadmap to implementation’, brokered by President Nicos Anastasiades, which enabled Pamboridis to push his agenda through much more aggressively – and Friday’s vote were unanimous, meaning all parties committed themselves to introducing Gesy as offered.

There is also the matter of the software commissioned to run Gesy.

In March, the HIO signed a contract with NCR Cyprus for the supply and administration of the software – deemed the “backbone of Gesy” – that will register and record contributions and medical interventions, hold and update patient histories, and feature a host of other functions necessary for the system to operate.

The seven-year contract will cost the HIO nearly €30 million, so anyone who decides to hold implementation back will face not only political questions but the charge of quite literally squandering taxpayer money.

While a giant step toward full, unfettered health coverage of the entire population was taken on Friday, there remain potential obstacles to look out for in the coming years. Pamboridis, who on Friday emerged victorious after months of fighting, may have been wrong in diagnosing the establishment’s “last-ditch effort”.

source:- http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/06/19/free- ... es-remain/
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trevnhil
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

It is a lot to take in, and a major undertaking. And of course it is 3 years away yet... It will be interesting to see how it will effect Ex Pat patients, in particular the retired ones..

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jeba
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by jeba »

I'd hate to be forced to pay for it as I'm already having insurance which I won't cancel. I seriously doubt that with that kind of contributions they will be able to offer decent coverage. E.g. in Germany health insurance costs about 15-17% of your salary (and that's without nursing insurance which adds another 2,x%). How are they going to cope with less than 6%?
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by trevnhil »

Because they are already coping now with funds from Government, the extras will be from the peoples contributions..

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WHL
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by WHL »

trevnhil wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:30 pm It wasn't meant as a moan, but just a factual comment..

Trev..

Didnt mean you were moaning Trev, I meant the general public
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Re: The new Cyprus NHS made simple

Post by Robert »

Hudswell wrote: Wed Aug 09, 2017 11:26 pm So what exactly is an "income earner" ? We live in Cyprus, are under UK state retirement age but receive a public sector pension...currently we are not entitled to Cypriot state care and pay for private insurance. So under the new regime will we be eligible to contribute 1.7% (initially) of our "income" and make use of the new NHS ? If so..sounds good,to me..
I hope so and from what I've read it would seem so. This might be of interest:
http://in-cyprus.com/then-new-cyprus-nhs-made-simple/

"...pensioners, those living on income from rent and other independent means, and government officials 1.7%" in phase 1 and "...2.65% for pensioners, those living on independent means, and state officials" in phase 2.

At the very least I'd think you are living off "other independent means" or at least I hope so. I'll be living off dividends/interest until I can get access to my private pension so I'm hoping I'll be classed as the same.

I just hope they're not being too generous and the system fails because of that. Say EUR25,000 per annum independently would only mean EUR662.50 every year for full state healthcare access. Private healthcare for 2 people is going to be costing circa 4 times that...
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