Mothers without allowances for months — Levica accuses the Health Insurance Fund

Levica warned that in recent days the party has received new testimonies from mothers confirming that the chaos with the payment of maternity allowances at the Health Insurance Fund continues.

According to the testimonies, some women indicate that they received no payment, some received only part of the funds they are entitled to by law, and a large number have not yet been informed when their payment will be made.

Cases of pathological pregnancies are particularly worrying

Evgenija Stankoska said at a press conference that among the most vulnerable are women who are on sick leave due to pathological pregnancy, who face additional expenses and, precisely at a time when they most need financial security, have been left without income for months.

Stankoska emphasized that the maternity allowance does not represent government aid, but a legal right that derives from the employment relationship and from the contributions that women have paid into the system for years. "Your work is valued as long as it creates profit, and your motherhood is valued only as long as it serves as a statistic for birth rates and as decor for conservative political speeches," Stankoska said.

Levica accused that the new director of the Health Insurance Fund, Zlatko Perinski, has failed to put an end to the problem, and the Minister of Health, Sasho Klekovski — who until recently served as director of the Fund — cannot distance himself from responsibility. "We demand the urgent payment of all outstanding maternity allowances. Furthermore, a public explanation for the partial payments, the establishment of clear and fixed deadlines for the payment of maternity allowances, and for the Health Insurance Fund to stop shifting responsibility and finally resolve the problem," the Levica representative said.

The Fund, however, stated that this is not a suspension of payments, but a continuous process of processing and payment of cases in accordance with the legally established order and the timeline for their completion, while citizens continue to report delays in cash benefits for sick leave and maternity leave.

Photo: Screenshot from Levica press conference