Filenews 17 May 2025 - by Ioanna Mantziapa
The new pricing of the services of the GHS for non-beneficiaries of the GHS, such as illegal foreigners and tourists from third countries (non-European citizens) who receive services from state hospitals, has been implemented. The implementation of the new pricing policy seems to have already caused some kind of inconvenience, especially to the affected patients, who, upon hearing of the advance payment, choose for financial reasons to leave hospitals without receiving treatment.
According to information from filenews, in an incident involving a child who suffered a fractured arm, his parents, as soon as they were informed about the deposit of €100 for registration at the First Aid Department of the Nicosia Hospital, decided to leave the hospital, stating that they did not have the money. The second case concerns a patient who was transported by ambulance to the Hospital and was asked for €100 as a deposit for admission to First Aid.
It should be noted that only asylum seekers and foreigners residing in Cyprus without a residence permit burden the public hospitals with a cost of about €45 million per year, an amount that the OCYPY never collects. At the same time, non-beneficiaries of the GHS, as mentioned above, resort to the A&E Hospitals, use ambulances, are admitted for hospitalization, undergo surgeries, etc., but then leave without paying the dues. They are usually not tracked down afterwards to pay the price. The percentage of these patients out of the total served by public hospitals reaches 22%.
However, the risk of loss of human life cannot be ignored. The new pricing has been implemented for a few days now, and there are already cases of citizens who leave as soon as they are informed about the €100 deposit, without medical care.
The new service pricing was approved by the Parliament and implemented by the OCYPY at the beginning of May, the spokesperson of the OCYPY, Mr. Pambos Charilaou, told filenews, noting that, "we do not refuse to provide services to anyone in need. We will not let someone die because they are illegal." The main question, as he said, is who covers the costs. "Until now, no one has covered it. All expenses were borne by the OCYPY", he stressed.
GHS beneficiaries are covered by the Health Insurance Organization (HIO). For the rest, a new list of services and related charges has been institutionalized. If the patient is not a beneficiary but is included in the list of the Ministry of Health – such as political asylum seekers – then the invoice is issued to the respective ministry. If it is a foreigner who does not pay social insurance, then he must pay out of his own pocket.
The charge is proportional to the services that will be provided, Mr. Charilaou explained. In the case of First Aid, a fixed amount is provided as a deposit until the process is completed. Asked about the incident with the child who suffered a fracture, Mr. Charilaou said: "We told them that they would pay and as soon as they heard about it, they left. An invoice would be issued. When a person's life is in danger, of course we will proceed immediately with the provision of medical care," he said. He underlined that the OCYPY will not refuse to provide medical assistance, but the affected citizens must also assume their responsibilities.
However, as far as the issue of whether the advance payment of €100 is requested before the provision of medical care or after, as Filenews is informed, this is at the discretion of the medical and nursing staff, who are called upon to decide whether they will proceed with the provision of care without the immediate payment of the amount or by issuing an invoice after the completion of the services.
