The Assembly will pay for female MPs' private mammography while the public system has months-long waits
The package was added to MPs' systematic medical check-ups; other state institutions also purchase private health insurance.
The Assembly of North Macedonia will cover private mammography for female MPs at a time when in public healthcare women sometimes wait months for the same exam. A private mammography exam in North Macedonia costs between 3,000 and 5,000 denars.
The service has been added to the basic package for the systematic medical check-up of MPs and Assembly staff; private mammography will also be used by female civil servants in the Assembly and the female employees in the office of the President of the Assembly. The decision for the most favourable offer from a private healthcare institution from Skopje was made in March. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_of_North_Macedonia?utm_source=openai))
Increasing state contracts for private insurance
Similar arrangements are also applied in other state institutions: one of the state energy companies procured the service under the name "LOT 10 Additional private health insurance for employees in AD ESM". The company operates under the public name Power Plants of North Macedonia (ESM). ([esm.com.mk](https://www.esm.com.mk/?cat=10&lang=en&utm_source=openai))
The State Video Lottery has concluded a contract for "Procurement of services for voluntary private health insurance for a period of 2(two) insurance years", allowing employees to receive private examinations instead of waiting for slots in public institutions. ([dx.dvlm.mk](https://dx.dvlm.mk/platforma/vlt?utm_source=openai))
Employees at the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, management and employees at the Development Bank of North Macedonia AD Skopje, as well as professors from the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FINKI), are also covered by private health insurance paid with public money. ([portal.nbrm.gov.mk](https://portal.nbrm.gov.mk/?utm_source=openai))
The negative consequences, experts and civic activists say, are that citizens have a harder time accessing services in secondary and especially tertiary care in clinical hospitals, while some state employees receive faster access to private examinations using Budget funds.
Photo: SDK.MK)
