NewsWhore
12-22-2008, 05:30 PM
More that half a million elderly people are excluded from the Social Security System because the government did not prioritize the funds needed for them to get out of poverty during their lives.
According to Hoy newspaper, social security expert Fulgencio Severino proposed that part of the monetary surplus that the Social Security Treasury receives from its contributors should be used to provide services for this group of people.
Some 875,000 elderly people live in the DR and of these 129,000 receive pensions, 65,000 still work and are registered as formal assets, according to Severino.
Of this population, 60% suffer from high blood pressure and 80% of people over the age of 70 are hypertensive. Many others have diabetes, cancer and other high-cost illnesses.
All these problems make things difficult, given the government's limited investment in health, says Severino. According to his data, 220,000 elderly people work in the informal sector, but none of them have made provisions for their retirement or their health issues.
They are excluded from the Social Security Program because they do not have any resources assigned to them by the government.
"We are talking about 620,000 people over 60 who are not working, are not pensioned and who have to be assured some level of social services," he added.
Solving the problem would have an impressive impact on poverty statistics, reducing poverty levels by 50%, according to the expert, who insisted on the use of the matching funds contributed by affiliates to the program.
If the assisted pensions for people living in vulnerable conditions were to be implemented, perhaps RD$12 billion would be invested and a significant reduction in poverty and extreme poverty would take place.
Two million people should be affiliated to the SENASA program and this would include the elderly.
For each 100 homes, the country has 70 elderly people and older citizens depend on family members or private health insurance for the elderly.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
According to Hoy newspaper, social security expert Fulgencio Severino proposed that part of the monetary surplus that the Social Security Treasury receives from its contributors should be used to provide services for this group of people.
Some 875,000 elderly people live in the DR and of these 129,000 receive pensions, 65,000 still work and are registered as formal assets, according to Severino.
Of this population, 60% suffer from high blood pressure and 80% of people over the age of 70 are hypertensive. Many others have diabetes, cancer and other high-cost illnesses.
All these problems make things difficult, given the government's limited investment in health, says Severino. According to his data, 220,000 elderly people work in the informal sector, but none of them have made provisions for their retirement or their health issues.
They are excluded from the Social Security Program because they do not have any resources assigned to them by the government.
"We are talking about 620,000 people over 60 who are not working, are not pensioned and who have to be assured some level of social services," he added.
Solving the problem would have an impressive impact on poverty statistics, reducing poverty levels by 50%, according to the expert, who insisted on the use of the matching funds contributed by affiliates to the program.
If the assisted pensions for people living in vulnerable conditions were to be implemented, perhaps RD$12 billion would be invested and a significant reduction in poverty and extreme poverty would take place.
Two million people should be affiliated to the SENASA program and this would include the elderly.
For each 100 homes, the country has 70 elderly people and older citizens depend on family members or private health insurance for the elderly.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)