Thursday, July 16, 2020

THREE EYE DOCTORS MADE €1.7m FROM GESY IN SIX MONTHS SAYS AUDIT OFFICE

Cyprus Mail 16 July 2020 - by Andria Kades




Three ophthalmologists made €1.7m in the space of six months, Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides said in a letter to the House committee on public expenditure oversight revealed on Thursday.

Elements of the letter, published in both Politis and Phileleftheros revealed the auditor’s concerns that the financial elements of Gesy may be crumbling from within, with procedures that lack transparency and doctors who could be abusing the system.

Michaelides’ letter expressed concern that despite him publishing possible instances of doctors abusing the system financially between June and October 2019, signs of opportunism gone too far were still evident in November and December.

One company for instance, had three ophthalmologists as specialists and for the period between June and December 2019, had reaped a hefty €1.7m.

Michaelides said there were several instances where specialist doctors were getting compensated with over €100,000 per month.

It appears that several doctors are registering under the name of a company for tax avoidance purposes he added, and although perhaps abuse of the system can’t be completely eradicated, it can be significantly reduced.

The auditor’s letter went on to say that 37 agreements were signed with private clinics, which were shrouded with lack of transparency, and the differences in the unit price pay ranged between €3,000 to €4,600.

Michaelides also condemned the fact that while the public was paying for the second phase of Gesy, not all services were included, as some are expected to become available in September.