Hospital, SVB fail to reach
budget agreement by deadline
~ Minister to step in and set amount ~
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) and Social Insurance Bank (SVB) were unable to see eye to eye for a new budget agreement for 2008 in time for the November 1 deadline set by Health Minister Omayra Leeflang.
The Minister is now expected to step in and set an amount. The budget agreement covers the treatment of SVB clients at the hospital.
Leeflang had ordered the two parties to work out a new budget arrangement for 2008 by Thursday, November 1, or she would step in, in the same manner that former Health Minister Sandra Smith had done.
SMMC General Director Dr. George Scot told The Daily Herald on Friday that the hospital had received a proposal from the Social Insurance Bank late Thursday, but said it was “far” from the amounts mentioned in the proposal the hospital had submitted to SVB the previous day.
“We are very far apart, so today (Friday) we will inform the Minister that we don’t have an agreement with the SVB so she can make a decision,” Scot said.
Scot had told this newspaper in an earlier interview that the hospital would only accept a “realistic” budget amount based on the actual projected cost to treat SVB patients. With their recently completed audited financial statement for 2006, the first in 16 years, the hospital is now able to show its income and expenditure to make its case for a realistic budget amount.
In the meantime, SMMC had initiated a court case against the minister of Health earlier this year in an effort to put an end to the long-standing dispute over how much SVB owes the hospital for treating its clients during 2004-2005.
The hospital filed the court case on March 9. The first hearing was on Tuesday, September 25, and the second hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 20.
Scot had underscored the importance of the budget agreements for 2004 and 2005 being settled once and for all. Budget amounts for these two years have been a point of contention among the hospital, the SVB and the health minister for quite some time already.
While SVB and former health ministers have contended that the books are closed for these years, the hospital has maintained that they are not.
Scot said the hospital had only agreed on budget amounts for 2006 and 2007, under the condition that certain Government and SVB related issues be addressed such as payment issues to SMMC from the governments of Saba, Statia and Curaçao and the budget arrangement for the years 2004 and 2005.
Based on calculations, Scot says SVB owed the medical center NAf. 15.9 million to treat its clients for the years 2004 and 2005. SVB has already paid NAf. 11.4 million of this amount and still owes SMMC NAf 4.5 million – the amount SMMC is pursuing in court.
Scot said the hospital needs this money to pay off outstanding debts to SVB. He acknowledges that the hospital owes the insurance service provider NAf. 3.2 million in outstanding premiums and NAf. 700,000 for outstanding ABVZ debts. “When we win this court case,” Scot had said in an earlier interview, “the hospital would like a barter system with SVB to trade off its debts.
“The court case is against the minister because, according to SVB and the Minister, the amounts for 2004 and 2005 are paid according to the budget agreement but we never had a budget agreement (for these years),” Scot had noted. (Judy H. Fitzpatrick)
