Health authorities have blocked doctors outside the General Health System (GHS) from prescribing medications within the system, following a court ruling that had temporarily opened this possibility.
The government and parliament must now work swiftly to amend legislation before Thursday’s plenary session to close what officials described as a legal loophole threatening the national health system’s integrity.
All political parties except EDEK expressed clear support for amending the GHS legislation, effectively ending discussions about granting prescription rights to non-GHS doctors.
They indicated willingness to vote for the health ministry’s bill aimed at addressing the grammatical gap identified by the court ruling.
Health Minister Michalis Damianos, responding indirectly to recent criticism, convinced parliamentary representatives of the government’s intentions. “There is a court decision which we do not accept and disagree with, neither the Ministry nor the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO),” Damianos said. “The HIO has proceeded with an appeal and this morning requested suspension of the court’s decision”.
Damianos explained the ministry preferred creating its own bill rather than using parliament’s proposal to avoid technical errors. “Our intention is for the bill to pass through the Cabinet next Wednesday and be submitted to parliament Thursday morning, for voting in the afternoon,” he said.
The minister emphasised that with both government and parties sharing the same views, “there is no need to discuss who is GHS’s greatest protector. We are all here to protect GHS and there is no question of anything else happening”.
HIO Director General Iphigenia Kammitsi stressed the urgency of amending the law: “In practice at this moment, after the court decision, GHS and the Organisation are exposed. As long as the legislation remains unamended, we remain exposed following the court’s decision”.
Kammitsi clarified that currently “no one can receive medications through GHS with a prescription from a non-GHS doctor, because there is no support from the information system. However, the pending matter remains and leaves us exposed”.
Representatives of non-GHS doctors, who comprise approximately 5% of Cyprus’s physicians, argued that GHS beneficiaries regularly pay their contributions and should be able to receive their medications through the system even if their doctor is outside it.
They cited the example of a medication with a retail price of €70 that has zero contribution within GHS, with patients paying only €1.
Several parliamentarians objected to these arguments, pointing out that the discussion concerned specific legislative amendments, not granting prescription rights to non-GHS doctors.
With government and party positions now clear, attention turns to how quickly procedures will move in the coming days. The Law Office committed to completing technical checks without delay, aiming to have the amendment before parliament next week.
The Organised Patients Association President Charalambos Papadopoulos emphasised that “we must leave past discussions aside. We as OSAK don’t serve anyone’s interests. Our concern is the patient. This issue that endangers GHS must be closed so we can make necessary corrections to improve the system without damaging its philosophy and architecture”.
Health Parliamentary Committee Chairman Efthymios Diplaros concluded the session by quoting Voltaire to the non-GHS doctors: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.
