The case, which was revealed by Dimitra Efthimiadou in the Eleftherotypia newspaper (link in Greek), in short is as follows: Mr Alexandros Georgiadis was admitted on the 3rd of March to the Elpis hospital to undergo surgery (there is no reason to violate the confidentiality of Mr Georgiadis’s medical history, however it can be confirmed that the operation was not urgent and could be scheduled). On arriving at the hospital he produced a document from the Community Clinic (a non-governmental initiative to provide medical care to the poor and uninsured) verifying that he was an uninsured and impoverished patient, and he was admitted as such. He underwent the surgery and was treated for several days in a single room by himself. On the 7th of March he was discharged.
The fact that the minister’s brother was treated for free – and in a single room no less – having declared himself poor and uninsured provoked a storm of outrage. For one, few believe that the Minister’s brother who lives in the upmarket suburb of Kifissia is really ‘impoverished’. However even assuming that he is, his free and preferential treatment is shocking, coming at a time when ordinary Greeks who have lost their insurance (of whom there are now at least 2.3 million) are called to pay the cost of their medical care, even in cases of emergencies. Impoverished patients are rarely treated for free, with cancer patients, for example, routinely denied treatment they cannot afford.
The case is particularly jarring given that Adonis Georgiadis himself has effectively overseen a shredding of the social safety net. Indeed the very same hospital which treated the minister’s brother for free will in the coming days send notifications to uninsured patients treated in the hospital during 2010, 2011 and 2012 demanding payment of unpaid bills that they couldn’t cover. If the bills remain unpaid the claims are transferred to the revenue service which has the power to seize assets and even homes to recoup the funds.
Ever a divisive figure Mr Georgiadis has also enraged many through his provocative statements. Regularly accused of cynicism, he has stated that cancer is, ‘not urgent unless it is in the final stages,’ and defended a move to impose a 25 euro ‘ticket’ for hospital admissions as ‘socially fair’ (the measure was eventually withdrawn and replaced with a tax on tobacco).
In an effort to quell the uproar the Director of the Elpis hospital, Theodoros Giannaros issued a response to the newspaper report, claiming that Mr Georgiadis indeed had been admitted as an uninsured patient but that he had signed a statement pledging to cover the cost of the operation by the 31st of March, which he did.
But what Mr Giannaros failed to mention – but was subsequently revealed by the Eleftherotypia journalist – is that the statement signed by Mr Georgiadis only appeared yesterday for the first time, following the initial newspaper report. On the same day the treatment cost was also paid off suddenly and in full. Even more damning – and what may lead to the state prosecutor’s involvement – is that yesterday a new hospital admittance record suddenly appeared describing Mr Georgiadis only as uninsured and not as ‘impoverished’. In short having been caught giving free and preferential treatment to the Health minister’s brother, the hospital appears to be trying to rewrite history.
According to the newspaper, even the Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has become involved in the case that is deeply embarrassing to the government. The newspaper, citing crosschecked sources, reports that Mr Samaras, on learning of the uproar over the free treatment of the Health Minister’s brother was particularly irritated and ordered that the issue be ‘dealt with immediately’. Subsequently the new modified documents appeared (which are necessarily are dated April 1st), in which the ‘impoverished’ description of Mr Georgiadis was quietly dropped, as were references to his ‘single room’. The original records also appear to have disappeared although Eleftherotypia claims to have copies. The hospital bill was also paid after Mr Samaras’s ‘order’.
Whether Adonis Georgiadis played a direct role in the preferential treatment of his brother, or whether it was the an initiative on the part of the Elpis hospital’s administration seeking to please the minister, the case nevertheless highlights how despite all the government’s talk of ‘reforms’ certain bad practices seem alive and well. It also highlights how from being considered a basic right, obtaining health care in Greece now very much depends on how much you make, and who you know.