PHILIPSBURG:--- In a meeting with the Government of St. Maarten namely Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, the Minister of Health and Labor Omar Ottley, and the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion where the board of the CFT expressed concerns about the dangerous state of the health care fund.
Asked to elaborate on the concerns of the CFT Minister Omar Ottley said that the CFT board stated the obvious and as Minister of Health he did not take any offense to the statements that were made.
Ottley said that SZV is a situation where they must adjustments and changes as such the government of St. Maarten has taken some decisions to secure the funds managed by SZV. The Minister further explained that he just recently received the Price, Pharmaceuticals Containment Cost Program (PPCP) which will soon be signed off and implemented. This program is expected to save the healthcare insurance company about Naf 12million annually while the ZVOV is at the Parliament of St. Maarten to be handled within short.
SZV and the Ministry are also working on the 1 B which would formalize some of SZV legislations including the schummel funds which allows SZV to legally maneuver the other funds managed by SZV. Ottley said if these changes are not made then SZV could not make several payments. He said at the moment SZV is formalizing because they account for 73% of the budget thus it must be regulated.
