The NSSF malady

Social Security Fund to offer credits to hospitals

August 5, 2011- The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has decided to offer credits on the arrears owed to hospitals. The NSSF stipulated that hospitals should admit all insured patients, including the ‘optional insurance’ coverage patients. It also urged hospitals to pay the registration fees for all their employees till the end of this year.

Hospitals have payable bills which the NSSF still hasn’t covered due to its budget deficit and staff deficiency. The bills added up with time and some hospitals have outstanding funds dating back to more than a year.

The NSSF estimates the outstanding funds at LL310 billion ($207 million). The president of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, Sleiman Haroun, said that the funds amount to around LL500 billion ($335 million) for the NSSF and LL50 billion ($33 million) for the optional coverage. He said that the payable bills have been accumulated over a period ranging between 12 and 26 months.

Haroun said that the NSSF’s decision offers a temporary solution but does not resolve the crisis. He said that the NSSF cannot survive unless it adopts a new electronic processing and billing system.

Haroun said that the syndicate will recommend that all private hospitals admit the optional coverage patients. He said that the Minister of Labor, Charbel Nahhas, has promised to find a solution to the optional coverage fund.

The proposed system grants hospitals a monthly credit equivalent to the average sum of bills over a 12-month period.