Filenews 30 January 2026 - by Theodora Nikolaou
The Plenary Session of the Parliament approved regulations that remove the injustice that had arisen against a portion of state employees, restoring the right to medical care to employees and pensioners of the public service, as well as to their family members, for specific health services that are not covered by the General Health System (GHS).
The regulations were examined in two sessions by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget and their purpose is to amend the Public Service (Medical Examinations and Medical Care) Regulations, in order to restore the possibility of providing medical care in accordance with the provisions of the Government Medical Institutions and Services (General) Regulations for services that are not included in the GHS.
These benefits were a permanent benefit for civil service employees and pensioners and their family members, which was lost in 2024 after the repeal of the previous regulations. These regulations were replaced in the context of modernization, which was deemed necessary after the implementation of the GHS and the autonomy of public hospitals.
As pointed out, these benefits continue to be provided without restrictions to other categories of state employees, such as teachers, members of the Police and National Guard, holders of hospitalization cards and certain state officials, based on the current legislative framework.
After the abolition of the benefits, there were strong reactions from the trade unions, which called for their reinstatement. The matter was referred to the Joint Staff Committee, where it was found that the abolition took place without prior consultation and that distortions had arisen, both in terms of unequal treatment between state employees and in terms of differentiation in relation to low-income citizens who continue to enjoy equivalent benefits.
With the amendments approved by the Parliament, the following labour rights are restored for employees and pensioners of the public service, as well as for their family members:
- Access to specific dental services such as fillings, endodontic treatments, tooth extractions and cleanings at state dental clinics at a cost of €3 per visit.
- Installation of dentures with the payment of fixed fees depending on the case.
- Provision of medical nutritional preparations to people with nasogastric tube due to inability to feed orally, flour to people with gluten allergy and/or free anti-allergic milk to newborns.
- Access to institutional or compulsory psychiatric care, which is provided free of charge to citizens of the Republic.
Parliament call for coverage of all GHS beneficiaries
In his statement, DISY MP Haris Georgiadis expressed his discomfort with the attitude of the Government that brings us to this need. A year ago, as he said, "we had stressed that we expect the Government to make a political decision whether these health services are necessary and whether they are to be offered to all citizens and not just to civil servants. If, on the contrary, it is considered that these services should not exist outside the GHS, the Government must come to remove these health benefits from teachers, police officers and the security forces. Instead, we had the Government's refusal to do either one or the other. Thus, it put the portion of civil servants in the strict sense in a worse position than teachers, police officers and security forces, so this regulation was needed. However, the political issue remains. We have approved the GHS, with a budget of over €2 billion and we believe that there should be a GHS for everyone and only the GHS and there should be no multiple speeds. In fact, we are forced to approve the proposal, but I call on the Government to take this political decision."
DIPA MP Alekos Tryfonidis, in turn, stressed that "the entire Parliament demands in a very short period of time that a necessary amendment be made so that the private sector is also entitled to these necessary health services".
Ecologists MP Stavros Papadouris said that "there is a distortion. We are not satisfied with the current regime. The GHS is for everyone but for some it is something more. I hope in a month they will come to bring us the inclusion of the whole world and we will gladly support it."
DIKO MP Chrysis Pantelidis stated that "what is important is that the state is currently trying to fill a gap that exists. In this case, we are not only referring to health services that some civil servants may need and if we do not vote for it, they will have to pay for them. There are a number of people who received them because they needed them and the state interrupted them by telling them that you will soon get them from the GHS. Two years passed and people were victimized. It may not cover the entire population, but I feel that even one beneficiary being covered is reason enough to vote for it."
AKEL MP Andreas Kafkalias stressed that "there is an urgent need for regulations that will cover all the beneficiaries of the GHS. So a holistic approach is needed. It is an obligation of the executive power and we hope that this time the one month will be valid and that we will have a comprehensive proposal before us that covers all the beneficiaries of the GHS."
The Regulations were approved with 36 votes in favour and 3 abstentions by MPs Pavlos Mylonas, Stavros Papadouris and Charalambos Theopemptou.
