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Wednesday,
July 18,
2007, #135 (1402) 30 000 fraudulent pension and disability claims were discovered, saving the state millions in benefits pay, announced Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs Lado Chipashvili at a July 16 press conference. Many of the claims, the minister said, were made with the help of corrupt doctors. The records of medical institutions in five cities were checked, turning up 36 suspected cases of forgery—out of 715 examined—which were forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s office. Another 186 disability claims are under doubt and will face verification, said the minister. Chipashvili also talked of the abolishment of committees which reviewed and granted disability requests to Georgians, calling the reform both a cost-saving measure and a step forward in the battle against corruption. The state-funded committees, made up of doctors and medical staff in districts across the country, were phased out in February. “For years there were these expert committees; they were like leeches on our people, and were busy with corruption…The Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs abolished these commissions and for the first time this year, ordinary hospitals will give certificates [of disability],” he said. The ministry carried out its investigation over three months, Chipashvili said—time well spent, in his eyes, with the state budget set to save GEL 15 million after unearthing the fraudulent payouts. “This is money that for years went into the pockets of corrupt committee members,” Chipashvili said. 13 doctors in Senaki, Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Samtredia and Zugdidi are at risk of losing their licenses for allegedly producing forged documents for disability seekers. Heads of the suspect clinics could also be demoted from their post, says head of the Medical Services Regulatory Agency Gia Tvalvadze, and each clinic fined GEL 1000–1500. According to Tvalvadze, doctors and clinic administrators could potentially face criminal charges stemming from the ministry’s investigations. “I warn all clinic chiefs that we will come and check all the hospitals, and if we notice any misconduct related to granting fraudulent certificates to the non-disabled, the case will be delivered to the Prosecutor General’s office,” Chipashvili declared. |
