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  The plan seeks to save $ 85.2 million in the first year. - A.M. Costa Rica illustrative photo - |
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Published Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Social Security announces spending
reduction plan due to pandemic By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Social Security announced a 2-year plan - in 2021 and 2022 - to reduce spending at the agency due to the national emergency of covid-19. The plan seeks to save $ 85.2 million in the first year. According to Román Macaya-Hayes, president of Social Security, the spending reductions will be applied to services, operating expenses, infrastructure and equipment investments, among others. Among the reductions: • No salary increases for employees in 2021. • Employee bonuses tied to their time working for the agency will not be paid in the years 2021 and 2022. • Hiring a maximum of 500 new employees. • Overtime work will be reduced by 5% in 2021. • No new offices will be rented. • Travel expenditure will be reduced by 60%. • Properties where the agency’s name is not used, will be sold. In October, Social Security announced a $200 million-plus budget to cover public health services until 2021. The Contingency Fund, the so-called Health Emergency Fund, of $207,127,000 is sufficient to guarantee the provision of health services for covid-19 patients during the pandemic until the first months of 2021, according to Macaya-Hayes. The Fund was created for epidemiological, anthropological and financial risks, in which the required resources have been available and adjusted to the course of the pandemic. It was first budgeted at approximately $74,565,720, later the institution added an additional amount of $132,561,280, for a total of about $207,127,000. It seems as though there will be more money added to the fund, as the Comptroller General is analyzing an additional budget of approximately $66,280,640. If the budget is approved, Social Security will have secured more than $273.4 million for the Emergency Fund. In addition to what they already have, the costs still need to be covered for the operating expenses of Social Security during the health crisis caused by the pandemic, so there’s an additional request to increase the budget by approximately $20,712,700. If all funding comes through, the Social Security Contingency Fund for Costa Rica will be just short of $300 million, at $294.12 million. The Fund is renewed every year to address the possible risks that Social Security might assume, whether due to the pandemic or another emergency situation. The pandemic has left countries to develop all manner of strategies to contain the virus, yet no one has been able to avoid the increase of infections, because of its high capacity of contagion, Social Security said in its statement. On Tuesday, the Health Ministry announced the most up-to-date statistics on the evolution of the virus in the country: • 534 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 50,720 active cases. • 19,851 foreign-born people have been infected with a total of 140,172 cases since March, approximately 14.1% of the total cases. Of these, authorities confirmed the death of 32 foreign-born patients. But since October, there is no updated information about foreign-born deaths due to covid-19. • 571 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 224 patients are in ICU’s in delicate health conditions (ages range from 1 to 88-year-old). And 347 patients are in recovery rooms. Many of the remaining infected patients are quarantined in their homes. • 87,721 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 62.6% recovery rate of the total cases since March. • 398,784 medical covid-19 tests have been performed in Costa Rica since March, this according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University, • 1,731 deaths of people infected with covid-19, approximately 1.2% death rate of the total cases since March. Of these 653 women and 1,078 men. The ages range from a 9-year-old to a 101-year-old person. Readers can see the updated number of total patients in each district at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.  According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering, CSSE, at Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic has killed 1,486,844 people worldwide. -------------------------- Should health authorities invest more in covid-19 testing? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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