The Federation of Pension Holders together with the Right to Health Committee of the People’s Assembly are protesting today in front of the People’s Assembly to express their rejection of the new draft law on medical insurance. The government is expected to submit the draft law to parliament during its current session.
"The government insists on privatizing everything, including health services," said Saeed el-Sabbagh, Secretary General of the Federation.
The protest, scheduled for noon today, aims to draw attention to the defects in the draft law on medical insurance, el-Sabbagh said.
The Defense of Pension Holders Movement, a pensioners’ advocacy organization, expressed their disappointment with the government’s intention to replace the old law on medical insurance. The new medical insurance law would be a step backwards, say the movement.
Qutb Hassan Fayeq, the head of the movement, said that pensioners want to keep Law 79/1975 because, according to Qutb, it achieves relative social justice, unlike the proposed law.
Fayeq also said that eliminating Articles 8 and 40 of the law will render pensioners unable to follow up on the growth of their money and obtain their rightful bonuses.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
