Maria commends hospital
on SVB budget agreement
PHILIPSBURG--Health Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus has commended the management and supervisory board of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) after hearing the news that Health Minister Omayra Leeflang decided in favour of the hospital on a new budget agreement with Social Insurance Bank (SVB).
“After long drawn out discussions that did not result in a budget agreement, which would guarantee payment to SMMC for health care provided to SVB insured persons, this is a positive development for our medical center,” Buncamper-Molanus was quoted as saying in a press release issued by Government Information Service (GIS).
“I am grateful to Minister Leeflang for acting correctly and making a decision in favour of the hospital. Access to health care must be guaranteed and so must the level or quality of health care.
“The continuous discussions about the inadequate SVB tariffs for medical services provided have been a cause of concern as they could threaten the level of health care, after all, health care providers must be able to cover the cost of the services rendered,” the Commissioner said.
Buncamper-Molanus said she is hopeful that this issue is permanently resolved so that the hospital can focus on its core business, namely that of providing quality health care.
SMMC and SVB had been at loggerheads in their negotiations for a new budget agreement. Leeflang had subsequently asked the two parties to iron out an agreement by November 1 or she would step in and set an amount, in the same manner that former Health Minister Sandra Smith had done during her tenure.
While the two parties had agreed on the method of calculation for the new budget agreement, they were not in agreement on the percentage of the hospital’s cost that SVB should cover.
The hospital had tabled a new budget proposal earlier this month totalling 11 million guilders, while SVB has proposed 8,975,000, a two-million-guilder difference. The budget negotiations were to be wrapped up by November 1, but there was no satisfactory outcome despite both parties using the SVB proposed methodology.
To mitigate the situation, the hospital had called on the minister to appoint “an independent third party” to work out the exact amount, based on the number of SVB insured people treated by the hospital, SVB should allocate to the medical center.
SMMC had given the minister up to today, Friday, November 30, to make a decision about the appointment of an independent expert, as the budget agreement has to be completed on December 1. If no agreement is met, January 1, SVB will have to pay per treatment or based on the 2001 tariffs or the working relationship will be cancelled and SVB cards will not be accepted.
The hospital board wrote to Leeflang on November 15 explaining SVB should pay the “real cost” for services to ensure that the hospital’s financial stability is not put in jeopardy.
