The Syndicate of Hospitals received assurances from the government that arrears of $80 million to its members for the period 2001-2013 will be paid via Treasury Bills (T-Bills).

The agreement has the blessing of the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister. The announcement came from The Minister of Health Wael Abu Faour, following a meeting with Suleiman Haroun, the chairman of the syndicate. “The Ministry of Finance had previously approved the payment of these dues following Cabinet and Parliamentary approval,” said Fouad Alameh, Vice President of the syndicate. “It certainly helps to have the Minister of Finance Ali Hasan Khalil agree to implement this law. As a former Minister of Health, he is fully aware of the situation,” said Alameh.

He said that his syndicate had insisted on receiving all arrears as a lump sum.  “We need to sustain private hospitalization when more and more citizens, unable to afford private insurance, opt for the coverage of the Ministry of Health,” said Alameh. He said that hospitals never stopped offering service to patients covered by the ministry. The agreement, when implemented, will allow hospitals use T-Bills to settle with their own arrears with banks.