BEIRUT: A proposal by the National Social Security Fund’s (NSSF) )administration to raise the monthly subscriptions on both employers and employees was rejected by the private sector, which bluntly accuses the fund of squandering financial resources and thereby contributing to the huge deficit in the NSSF.
The NSSF has been running into a deep deficit since the previous government of late former Premier Rafik Hariri decided to reduce the subscriptions on the private sector in 2001.
“We absolutely reject the fund’s proposal to increase the monthly fees. First we need to see real reforms in the NSSF and all the departments fully computerized. There is a lot of waste in the fund, this should be settled immediately,” the president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association told The Daily Star on Thursday.
The fund has proposed increasing the subscription on the medical and maternity department from 9 to 11 percent, with employers bearing 8 percent and employees 3 percent of the subscriptions
The General Labor Confederation insisted that the employers pay 8.5 percent and the workers 2.5 percent.
The NSSF, which was established by a 1963 decree, provides employees with national insurance to cover costs related to sickness and maternity care. It also provides family allowances, end-of-service indemnities, work-related accidents and illnesses. Any employee or laborer from any sector is eligible to enroll in the program.
It is estimated that more than 1.5 million Lebanese benefit from the services of the NSSF. The fund collects monthly fees from employees and employers to finance its operations. In addition, the government contributes 25 percent of total NSSF spending.
The NSSF falls under the jurisdiction of the Labor Ministry and all its accounts are audited by the government’s Auditing Council, which issues an annual financial report detailing expenditures and revenues.
The total deficit of the NSSF since 2001 is estimated at over LL700 billion ($466 million).
Abboud stressed that one of the biggest wastes in the fund are high and unexplained NSSF administration salaries.
“We are talking about an average salary of no less than $4,000 a month. This is ridiculous. How can they [fund] ask us to pay more for the subscriptions and at the same there is lot squandering going on?”
Sources told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity that implementing reforms in the NSSF is easier said than done.
“Many members of the NSSF’s board are affiliated with powerful political groups in the country. I don’t think anyone will dare take the golden spoon from these guys,” the informed source said.
He added that many hospitals and doctors are collaborating with pharmacies to make a quick profit by hiking the medical bill for those covered by the NSSF.
One of the biggest challenges facing the new government is finding a quick solution for the optional insurance coverage in the NSSF.
This department is unable to cover the medical expenses of the option insurance patients and on many occasions the hospitals turn them down.
Sleiman Haroun, the president of the Hospital Owner’s Syndicate, blames the NSSF’s administration and board of directors for the current problems at the hospitals.
He said the NSSF has refused to adhere to the new modified list of prices for all those who are admitted to the hospitals.
“The Cabinet has agreed in the past to raise the hospital bill rates for those covered by the optional insurance. They [NSSF] insist on applying the older rates at our hospitals. We simply can’t afford it,” Haroun said.
Ghazi Yehya, the vice president of the NSSF, said the deficit could be cut in one of two ways: “Either we increase the subscriptions on both employers and employees or we ask the government to inject cash into the fund.”
“We need to find out about the future of the fund because the problems facing it are enormous. The private sector and the trade unions should submit a joint paper suggesting solutions,” Yehya said.
He added that the NSSF was unable to accept the hospitals’ new price list although the increase was approved by cabinet.
“There is one way and one way only to abide by the new list of prices and this is increasing the subscriptions for both the employers and employees,” Yehya said.
He also warned that if any hospital refuses to treat the optional patient, then the contract with that particular hospital would be annulled.