€23.6m earmarked for pay hikes in health insurance fund budget
While last May healthcare workers had demanded 68 million euros for a pay increase, a total of 23.6 million euros of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund's (EHIF) 2017 budget has been earmarked for covering their potential wage hikes.
Liis Hinsberg, a spokesperson for the fund, told BNS that there is a reserve in the current budget for healthcare services meant for covering changes in wage costs.
"Therefore in the current budget there is money for that which must be included — it's just on a different row," she explained, adding that in the cover letter accompanying the budget, the sum is stated to be 23.6 million euros.
The volume of healthcare services would definitely not be reduced in the current budget after the collective agreement has been signed, Hinsberg stressed.
Talks for the signing of a healthcare workers' collective agreement are currently on the table of a public conciliator.
The supervisory board of the EHIF on Friday endorsed the fund's 2017 budget at 1.1 billion euros, a 10.1 percent increase over its 2016 budget.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS
