Apostolos Tomaras
The Health Insurance Organization (HIO) manages the largest public health budget on the island, handling funds from patients, employers, and the state. Yet its recent response to a Kathimerini report on double payments totaling €150 million is a textbook example of smoke and mirrors.
HIO’s claims that its actions are about transparency and serving beneficiaries of the national health system (GeSY) are, to put it mildly, grandiose statements designed to obscure the real story. Since Kathimerini revealed the organization’s generous reimbursement practices on Tuesday, HIO has issued two statements: one reacting directly to the report, and another after it was published. In both, the organization fails to address the €150 million in double payments.
Instead, HIO tries to justify the double payments as intentional, supposedly a way to secure lower drug prices. The logic, they suggest, was to pay twice and get cheap medicine for GeSY beneficiaries, then claw back the money later. Not being an accountant myself, I can only imagine how the rest of the accounting community must feel reading that explanation.
The statements also omit a crucial detail: insiders had reportedly warned the organization about the unusual accounting practice, yet no action was taken. Nor do they clarify when the recovery of the double payments began, despite the report noting that the double payments had stopped in January.
In its second statement, HIO dismisses the allegations of mismanagement, double payments, and waste of GeSY funds as “unfounded.” From their reaction, one might conclude that their definition of mismanagement differs markedly from the rest of the world.
Ultimately, the government, which appoints HIO leadership, needs to step in. Reports suggest the president reacted swiftly, asking the finance minister to intensify audits for corruption and fiscal mismanagement. HIO now has to explain its accounting “logic” for securing cheap drugs through double payments and subsequent monthly recoveries. They also need to justify why internal controls failed to stop double payments for an entire year, only acting after someone realized the practice was still ongoing.
The Auditor General also has a role, given that HIO falls under their supervision, and unlike the Ministry of Finance, procedural maneuvers cannot hide the facts. After all, the Auditor General knows HIO intimately, having served as its former general director.
For the record, HIO has already recovered more than 50% of the initially owed amount and arranged monthly deductions with hospitals to settle the remainder in full. Yet the organization continues to insist the claims made by Kathimerini are “unfounded.”
Clearly, empty statements and bureaucratic jargon cannot cover up what looks increasingly like a serious case of mismanagement, one that deserves far more transparency and accountability.
