VMS slams SZF over delay in payments

The Association of Physicians in Suriname (VMS) last week announced that there are still problems with the State Health Fund (SZF) despite the fact that there had been a talk with Health Minister Antoine Elias in April. The VMS last week sent a letter to Minister Elias, explaining that the SZF still has not extended the agreements with the specialists and that it still has not kept the promises that were made last year. The VMS claimed that the SZF is taking several measures in an attempt to delay payment to the specialists. The association explained that in April all parties had agreed that the VMS would no longer communicate directly with the SZF but via the Health minister.

That is why the VMS opted to write a letter to the minister to explain that the SZF does not accept the guarantee letters that family doctors have not marked with the stamp of the SZF. The VMS deems this an attempt to delay payment to the specialists for as long as possible. “We will have to inform the public about the SZF’s tactics in order to put an end to this unacceptable situation.

Before we make the announcement we want to give you the opportunity to solve this problem with the SZF. If a solution is not found within a week, we will inform the nation via the media,” said the VMS in its letter to the Health minister. The SZF had agreed to extend all the agreements with the specialists and family doctors while closing new agreements with new specialists but has failed to do so despite talks with the vice president. The SZF has extended agreements with family doctors with three months and agreements with specialists until October 2020 even though the normal extension covers a three year period.

The VMS pointed out that the SZF still has not executed the agreement that was reached over a year ago. According to the VMS, Finance Minister Gillmore Hoefdraad had made it clear that the SZF must keep its promises.