May 8, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

A. Georgiadis is preparing to introduce "fees" in all health sectors. He’s done this before…


Increasing drug prices is just the beginning, as the Ministry of Health under the leadership of Adonis Georgiadis is preparing to introduce a “tax” on diagnostic tests (lab and imaging), and who knows what will follow later.

In fact, if we take into account the “price lists” for evening clinics presented a few days ago, it becomes obvious that an indirect “privatization” of healthcare is taking place. After all, if a Greek citizen must pay for everythingthen what kind of service provision health care will be “free” and why a Greek citizen pays high taxes.

The fact is that Adonis Georgiadis, in his previous term of work in the same ministry has already resorted to similar methods of collecting taxes. If anyone has forgotten, let us remind you introduced in 2014, 5 euros for hospitalization and 20 euros for inpatient treatment.

In particular, during a teleconference on February 15 with Adonis Georgiadis and the Committee ΕΟΠΥΥ The 16-member Refund Management Committee discussed all the parameters of this chronic problem, as well as the ministry’s proposal to reimburse the cost of laboratory tests and imaging tests charged to the patient. The ministry’s proposal envisages charging a fee in the amount of:

  • 1 euro for each referral for laboratory tests;
  • 3 euros for each referral for imaging studies.

The plan provides that these amounts will be collected through referral (based on the basis ΕΟΠΥΥ), but will not be paid to the organization. Instead, the resulting total annual fee will be added evenly (in an accounting sense) ΕΟΠΥΥ to the maximum laboratory expense limit to reduce refunds.

Greek public health insurance is slowly turning into a fiction. Despite fairly substantial social security fees, getting free medical care is becoming more and more difficult every year.



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