Uninsured without a cause
Thousands of freelance professionals, self-employed professionals and farmers have suddenly found themselves without healthcare coverage even though they did not have any outstanding debts at the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA). Consequently citizens have missed out on long-scheduled surgeries, cancer patients have gone without treatment and the children of farmers and lawyers have been unexpectedly left without drugs.
The new skeleton that has fallen out of the EFKA closet is the lack of interoperability between the information systems of the entity and the Social Security Debt Collection Center (KEAO). This impossible confusion started in early March, when 2 million salary workers and 1.3 million others had to update their social security details.
The inability of the system to monitor in real time the payments mainly by non-salary workers, and the fact that the system has now reverted to the pre-pandemic system, resulted in hundreds of thousands of insured workers missing out on healthcare coverage. Thousands of citizens had to rush to EFKA branches to prove they do not owe any money.
A solution was found, with the extension of coverage till May 31.
