Willemstad, July 27th, 2023 – On July 26, 2023, the Court delivered its judgment in the cases of Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) against Minister GMN (Mr. Drs. J.F.A. Silvania) regarding the healthcare budgets for the periods of November 15, 2019 – December 31, 2020, and January 1 – December 31, 2021.
In this regard, the Court ruled in favor of CMC on the following points:
The Minister did not include the actual transition and startup costs in the healthcare budget or take any action to address this issue. The Court ordered the Minister to issue new decisions (corrections to the “beschikking”) on this matter. In these decisions, the Minister must also account for the accreditation costs of CMC. Additionally, the Minister must calculate a depreciation of 2.5% on the hospital building instead of 2%. Furthermore, the Minister must include a sum of NAf 3.6 million in the healthcare budgets to cover interest expenses. In the healthcare budget for the year 2020, the Minister unjustly applied a discount of NAf 0.4 million on medical equipment and materials, which must be corrected.
Financially speaking, according to CMC, the Court’s judgment means that the healthcare budgets should be increased by approximately NAf. 50 to NAf. 60 million (NAf. 25 to 30 million per year), depending on the chosen system for transition and startup costs. This amount is in addition to the NAf. 16.9 million – relating to the 12.5% labor condition discount – that the Court of first instance declared invalid. These amounts are separate from the NAf. 19.6 million compensation granted by the Government of Curaçao for healthcare expenses provided to undocumented individuals in previous years.
Minister Silvania must provide new healthcare budget decisions within 3 months, taking into account the Court’s declaration. After that, the SVB (Social Insurance Bank) will proceed with the payment of the additional sum. This Court’s ruling will also have an impact on the healthcare budgets for the year 2022 and subsequent years. The same applies to the recognized expenses for undocumented individuals by the Government of Curaçao.
There is no possibility of appeal against the Court’s declarations. CMC is open to engaging in constructive dialogue with the Government of Curaçao to reach agreements in accordance with the Court’s judgment and will continue to seek dialogue with the relevant parties.
CMC was represented in these cases by the attorneys Mrs. E.R. de Vries and P. Blom from the law firm HBN Law & Tax..
