NewsWhore
05-24-2007, 03:11 PM
Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon, Vice President Rafael Alburquerque said that on Friday, 25 May President Leonel Fernandez would announce a date for the controversial Seguro Familiar Social (SFS) national health plan's entry into effect. It is scheduled to start 1 June 2007.
Alburquerque said that the decision on whether or not to go ahead with the plan is not in question; the only doubt is when the health plan will start. The Vice President did acknowledge that there are still issues that need to be worked out, but claims that people in employment are the only ones who will experience disadvantages with the social security program. The biggest losers will be the estimated 52,000 people who hold more than one job, and employees who may need to purchase complementary health plans. Alburquerque, nevertheless, admitted that this would contradict the spirit of the SFS health plan that was intended to eliminate the duality of companies having to pay for the governmental IDSS health plan and then contract private medical insurance for their employees.
In his talk, Alburquerque pointed that the SFS brings new benefits, such as coverage for patients regardless of age, coverage for individuals with illnesses such as diabetes and many other diseases that are currently excluded from medical plans, co-payments will never be more than RD$100, coverage of pregnancies of spouses, regardless whether the couple is legally married or not.
The Association of Free Trade Zones (ADOZONA) and the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) have recommended that the invoices that are being collected for the SFS this month should be withdrawn. ANJE and ADOZONA said that to charge for the SFS without having the pertinent issues resolved would constitute a double contribution by businesses. For the Vice President's comments on the health plan, see http://dr1.com/news/2007/052407_el_seguro.shtml
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
Alburquerque said that the decision on whether or not to go ahead with the plan is not in question; the only doubt is when the health plan will start. The Vice President did acknowledge that there are still issues that need to be worked out, but claims that people in employment are the only ones who will experience disadvantages with the social security program. The biggest losers will be the estimated 52,000 people who hold more than one job, and employees who may need to purchase complementary health plans. Alburquerque, nevertheless, admitted that this would contradict the spirit of the SFS health plan that was intended to eliminate the duality of companies having to pay for the governmental IDSS health plan and then contract private medical insurance for their employees.
In his talk, Alburquerque pointed that the SFS brings new benefits, such as coverage for patients regardless of age, coverage for individuals with illnesses such as diabetes and many other diseases that are currently excluded from medical plans, co-payments will never be more than RD$100, coverage of pregnancies of spouses, regardless whether the couple is legally married or not.
The Association of Free Trade Zones (ADOZONA) and the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) have recommended that the invoices that are being collected for the SFS this month should be withdrawn. ANJE and ADOZONA said that to charge for the SFS without having the pertinent issues resolved would constitute a double contribution by businesses. For the Vice President's comments on the health plan, see http://dr1.com/news/2007/052407_el_seguro.shtml
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)