Family physicians take
Govt to appeal court
~ Free consultations for non-insured today ~
PHILIPSBURG--The family physician associations of St. Maarten, Curaçao and Bonaire will be defending their appeal in court against the Central Government over Social Insurance Bank SVB tariffs today, Tuesday.
St. Maarten family physicians associated with the Windward Islands Medical Association (WIMA) will draw attention to this “important court case” by giving all non-insured patients free consultations today, Tuesday. The intention, WIMA said, was that, instead of affecting patient care negatively, they hoped to send out a positive message while underlining the importance of the current situation.
In a show of support, family physicians in Curaçao will close their clinics during the morning hours and will be present in Court to support the appeal case.
The family physicians have been involved in ongoing court cases against SVB over tariffs. At one point, the Minister of Public Health had indicated that the current tariffs of SVB were incorrect and too low to continue modern and adequate patient care, WIMA said in a statement on Monday.
“Family physicians receive a so-called subscription tariff from SVB. This means that, for each registered SVB patient, they receive a flat rate no matter how often the patient consults the doctor. The tariff in the current law (Landsbesluit) of September 2001, states a wrong tariff because it was based on wrong index calculations that were later corrected in court rulings,” WIMA said.
“The Minister of Public Health and SVB have admitted that the calculations were wrong, but have never been willing to correct the tariffs accordingly. In 2004, the family physicians won a court case against the SVB forcing SVB to pay an adjusted tariff as of the year 1998, according to official cost of living adjustments released by Central Bureau of Statistics.
“However, because the Minister used the wrong tariff in the law which went into effect September 2001, the improved tariff scales were again reduced to the level from before 1998. Several court cases have proceeded since then and Tuesday, May 27, will be the final appeal.”
The family physicians said not only their tariffs were at stake, but especially upgraded, professional patient care. For a decade, the physicians said, they have seen their tariffs frozen at the level of before 1998.
“Because the cost to operate a medical clinic has risen tremendously over the past years, the ability to invest in these medical clinics, their equipment and staffs has been negatively affected,” it was stated in the release.
The medical clinics offering free consultations for today are Bush Road (Dr. Bouman/Dr. Raghosing), Mullet Bay (Dr. Deketh), Simpson Bay (Dr. Tjaden/Dr. Datema), Union Road (Dr. Herles/Dr. van Osch), Madame Estate (Dr. A. Arrindell and Dr. P. Arrindell), Dr. Foeken, Dr. Spencer, Dr. Knol/Dr. Bus.
