WILLEMSTAD - Minister Javier Silvania has unjustly not taken into account the actual transition and startup costs in the healthcare budget over the past years. These costs should have been approximately fifty to sixty million guilders higher. This is one of the outcomes of an appeals case on which three judges of the Willemstad Court made a ruling yesterday.
According to the Court, the minister made errors by not including the transition and startup costs in the healthcare budget after the opening of the hospital on November 15, 2019. He should have made an alternative arrangement.
Furthermore, it was noted that the minister had not included the costs of accreditation and an amount of 3.6 million guilders in interest expenses. The minister also unjustly applied a discount of four hundred thousand guilders on medical supplies and materials in the healthcare budget for 2020, which, according to the Court, should also be corrected.
The minister now has three months to issue new healthcare budget decisions, taking into account the Court's ruling. The Social Insurance Bank SVB will then have to pay the additional amount. The favorable ruling for the CMC also has implications for the as yet undetermined healthcare budgets for 2022 and the coming years.
The Court's ruling is final and cannot be appealed. The CMC says it is optimistic and looks forward to resolving this matter in good consultation with the government, in accordance with the Court's ruling.