Chairman of the parliamentary Health Committee Assem Araji in the Lebanese Parliament on Tuesday. (Credit: Ali Fawaz/Lebanese Parliament)
BEIRUT — Parliamentary Health Committee head Assem Araji warned on Tuesday that it is possible “hospitals may no longer receive patients covered by the National Social Security Fund,” since the NSSF no longer grants hospitals payments in advance.
Here’s what we know:
Araji called on the government to “intervene as quickly as possible” and “grant an advance to the NSSF,” which provides coverage for 35 percent of the Lebanese population.
Araji said after a meeting with the parliamentary health committee that “the NSSF paid hospitals an advance monthly equivalent to 30 to 40 percent of civil servants’ salaries, and the agreement would have to be renewed annually,” adding that “the NSSF Council has not approved the advances.”
Under the terms of the central bank’s Circular 161, which was issued in December, civil servants are being paid in Lebanese lira but at Banque du Liban’s Sayrafa platform exchange rate, which is presently around LL20,200 to the dollar.
“The NSSF and the rest of the insurance companies are heading for collapse,” Araji warned. He called on the government “to put in place an emergency plan,” adding that the “state must intervene as quickly as possible, give an advance to the NSSF…and try to ensure financing from abroad in order to save this sector, since the state must pay a debt of LL5,000 billion to the NSSF.”