“This is a fiasco by Golob’s government and Golob’s coalition,” said MP Zvonko Černač of the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), regarding the saga of the long-term care, which, despite people having to pay the mandatory contribution, has not yet been implemented. He also believes that the government should publicly apologise to the people who have been waiting a long time for the law to come into force.
The public has been under the impression that the contribution for long-term care would amount to one percent of an employee’s gross salary. In reality, however, the contribution amounts to two percent, as the employer must pay the other percent on our behalf. The public was also under the impression that the contribution would be calculated solely on the basis of gross salary, but we were misled here as well. In reality, supplements to the gross contractual salary are also taken into account in the calculation. After the first deduction, more than 44 million euros have already been collected, and according to estimates by the Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future, almost 260 million euros will flow into the state coffers on account of this contribution in this year alone.
In a debate on the 24ur Zvečer television show, MP Černač emphasised that the 2 percent contribution is problematic. “If Golob’s government and coalition had not taken over on the 1st of June, 2022, long-term care rights would have been in effect for a good two and a half years by now, namely, from the 1st of January, 2023 onwards,” he pointed out, recalling that the law was already passed during the previous government led by the Slovenian Democratic Party. According to him, we now have a law, certain rights on paper that are not being implemented, and a 2 percent contribution that everyone has to pay.
He said that, according to the ministry’s own estimates, not even 80 million euros of the 260 million euros to be collected will be spent this year. “In my opinion, it will be significantly less. It is essential to note that they repealed a law that was good when they came to power, in a revanchist style of repealing everything that was adopted when the SDS party was in power, and unnecessarily burdened people with an additional levy,” he was critical. However, the leader of the Freedom Movement (Gibanje Svoboda) parliamentary group, Tereza Novak, disagreed with this statement, insisting that the law at the time was not realistic and lacked a financial strategy. “In any case, it was intended that the contribution would come sooner or later,” she said, among other things, and regarding the confusion surrounding the payment of the contribution, she said: “I think it was clear. Perhaps there was a bit of miscommunication. However, we have a law that stipulates this. Above all, I think it is a remarkable achievement that we have finally reached this point.”
When asked whether she thinks it is right that people should already be paying, even though long-term care is not yet fully implemented, MP Novak insisted that it is. “The payment of the contribution didn’t start on the 1st of January. Long-term care is already being implemented. Since the 1st of January, 2024, assistance for family members at home has already been financed. Additional e-assistance and home care are now available for anyone who registers from the 1st of July,” she insisted. Černač explained that the previous government had already introduced e-care in the spring of 2022. “If it weren’t for this government, represented by the Freedom Movement, the Social Democrats (Socialni Demokrati – SD) and the Left (Levica), people would have had significantly lower bills in nursing homes since the 1st of January, 2023 already. Not everyone, of course, but only those who are eligible for it. As it stands, they will only receive this benefit at the end of the year, if at all,” he clarified.
Contributions are paid during active working life
Černač made it clear that the long-term care contribution for pensioners will be abolished immediately, and a moratorium on payments for all others will also be introduced as soon as the SDS party regains responsibility for running the country. After the first full year of implementation, an evaluation of the implementation will be carried out. The SDS MP finds it completely inappropriate that pensioners also have to pay the aforementioned contribution, as contributions are paid during the active working life. Meanwhile, the Freedom Movement MP insisted that these are empty words and that without the money we all contribute, it is not possible to achieve a functioning long-term care system.
However, Černač explained that the contribution of pensioners to the total amount of 650 million euros is relatively low. “It amounts to approximately 70 million euros, which means that it does not jeopardise the implementation of long-term care rights,” he pointed out. He believes that people should not be charged for something that does not exist. “Home care should have started on the 1st of July. It has not. On the 1st of December, bills for some nursing homes should have been reduced. They will not be, because nothing is ready. We saw this with the first of the benefits mentioned by my colleague, which should have been implemented on the 1st of January, 2024, but only began in June 2024.”
The Freedom Movement MP defended the government’s actions, insisting that a new system is being put in place and must be allowed time to begin to function. She stated that this is all part of the process and that it should proceed according to the plan laid out in the law. “Let me also emphasise that the contribution is one percent, not two percent,” she insisted. “No one has yet received a single decision on eligibility for home care under this law after the 1st of July this year. Not a single decision has been issued yet,” MP Černač explained in response, adding that one percent is paid only by the pensioners, while for everyone else, the amount is two percent, because the employer also contributes. “So, it amounts to two percent, the same as for farmers and the self-employed.” He believes that it would be a minimum moral obligation of the ruling coalition to publicly apologise to all those who have been waiting a long time for this law to finally come into force.
People have been deprived
Novak insisted that this is manipulation without substance. “In reality, the problems that are very serious for all those who currently have problems paying for long-term care are already being addressed here. A system is being set up where the contribution will be relatively small, and all services provided by the state for this purpose will be free of charge,” she said. Černač replied that all those she mentioned had been deprived of around 15,000 euros in two and a half years. “According to the law passed in December 2021, during the term of the previous government, these people would have had these lower bills from the 1st of January 2023 onwards. Instead, they will only have lower bills from the 1st of December this year,” he said critically.
Černač warns of overpayment in connection with the purchase of helicopters
The discussion also touched on the purchase of two rescue helicopters, which experts from the medical field oppose. MP Novak insisted that the information they have shows that the tender for the purchase was conducted professionally, that experts were involved in the tender, and that it proceeded without complaints. “Applicants could have complained. In other words, the tender was obviously not intended for just one applicant, as two bidders applied. According to the expert commission, they chose the best one,” she said.
Černač explained that in this specific case, we are basically talking about an air ambulance. “If it is an air ambulance, why are we inventing some kind of dual use for police purposes and everything else? Will an empty police van then also transport patients, or what? We probably have ambulances there, don’t we,” he explained, adding that things have changed in the last ten to fifteen years, and we need a specialised emergency helicopter medical service, for which we need at least three helicopters. “Three helicopters of the appropriate rank, as they have in Croatia and other neighbouring countries, could be obtained for the price of these two. This is overpayment, and it will not provide the necessary treatment for those who need it when their lives are at risk,” he said critically about the planned purchase.
Ž. N.
