Angelos Tropis said the HIO had spent €70 million in the first three months since the launch of the GHS. It has budgeted for spending of €40 million a month.

The €70 million spent includes payments to specialist and personal doctors and for pharmaceuticals and clinical tests.

The first phase of the GHS that was launched on June 1 does not include hospital care.

Tropis said that spending was below budget because not all doctors or beneficiaries have registered. A more representative picture will emerge once all providers (doctors) do so, he added.

“It is to be expected that there will be a gradual increase in expenditure as new health services providers are registering, as are more beneficiaries,” he said.

So far 700,000 beneficiaries have signed up.

Another reason for the low expenditure is some beneficiaries have health insurance schemes that they are using in parallel to the GHS.

The study anticipates an annual increase in the budget of 3%.

In the first four months since contributions have been deducted from salaries and other income (March 2019) revenue has been marginally above projections by about 5% with some €160 million collected.

Source: InCyprus