Dear Editor,
For those who read the notice from NIS in Sunday Stabroek of December 6, indicating its intention of terminating its drug distribution programme to pensioners from December 31, ’09 it might not have had any impact on or made sense to the readers unless you happened to be a beneficiary.
This ‘benefit,’ which I so term from common practice, provided financial help to those who could not afford the cost of the medicines. With this change, ie, purchase with a doctor’s prescription and then wait for a reimbursement, which could last as long as Noah was looking for dry land, is an inconvenience pensioners can ill afford. Thanks anyhow to NIS for the facility we enjoyed, but kindly remember that as pensioners we have not only contributed to NIS for pensions, etc, but have served the nation in many ways, and it is the incompetent management of NIS in not collecting arrears from unscrupulous employers and the alleged corruption of staff that has put it in a financially adverse position.
Even though the Ministry of Human and Social Services has done more than the previous political administration by increasing the old age benefits and giving a subsidy for the water tariff, there is an eerie silence in the media about this amendment to the NIS drug programme.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
