There is a very good chance that starting this month, millions of people insured with Greece’s social insurance carriers, will be forced to pay the entire amount of their prescriptions to the pharmacies, and then collect the allowed refundable percentage personally from the carriers, such as ΟΠΑΔ, IKA, ΟΑΕΕ or ΟΓΑ.  

“The pharmacists face serious economic problems because they remain unpaid for many months by the Social Insurance carriers,” said Member of Parliament Mr. Manolis Stratakis in his Question to the Ministers of Health, Social Solidarity and Employment. “Because the situation has reached henceforth a deadlock, the Pharmaceutical Associations of all four prefectures in Crete, in an emergency meeting have decided to stop issuing prescriptions on credit which can only mean that the insured must pay the entire amount up front for their medicines.”

In his actual Question to the Ministers, Mr. Stratakis asked: “whether they intend to give the order for an immediate payment of all debts by the Social Insurance carriers to the pharmacists in Crete.”

He went on to say: “the pharmacists can no longer cope economically but if they stop extending credit it will cause a serious social agitation throughout the country, especially among the elderly retired population who live on a limited budget.”

However, local pharmacists in the Gouves Township don’t see the situation as a critical problem.

Pharmacist Rena Hatzithaki of Kokkini Hani said she would continue to issue prescriptions as normal.

“The only insurance carrier that is seriously delinquent in payments is the one for civil servants, Δημόσιου,” she said. “And, whenever these threats of cutting off further credit are made, the payments suddenly materialize.”

Pharmacist Nektarios Tsapakis also said it will remain business as usual at his shop in Kato Gouves, denying any extraordinarily long delays in receiving payments from carriers.

“With ΟΠΑΔ (the public sector) we work on a two- to four-month time span, but all the others are much better,” he said.

Mr. Tsapakis went on to describe a plan to centralize the entire process of prescriptions between doctors, pharmacists and insurance carriers through the use of common software and prescription cards, similar to supermarket bonus cards, held by the insured.

“Once this simplified operation is in place, replacing the reams of paperwork, payments the entire operation will run more smoothly and everyone will benefit,” he said.