Workers at the Jordan Electricity Company (JEPCO) protested the new health insurance project recently proposed by the company's management, emphasizing that it will weaken the insurance services for all beneficiaries.
The company's management issued an announcement last Thursday to all health insurance beneficiaries, namely workers, their families, and retirees, that the health insurance file will be transferred from the company's management to an external insurance company “in an effort to improve the level of medical services provided to beneficiaries,” according to the company's announcement.
Workers and members of the General Syndicate of Electricity Workers rejected the announcement, emphasizing their rejection of this project due to its negative effects on health insurance services and demanding that it remain under the supervision and management of the Jordanian Electricity Company (JEC).
Khaldoun al-Hadeed, a member of the union's administrative body, said that the main reason for the company's move to transfer the health insurance file to an external insurance company is not to improve the level of insurance services, as it claims, but because of the financial deficit in the health insurance funds for families and retirees.
Speaking to the Jordanian Labor Watch, al-Hadeed explained that the financial deficit in the health insurance funds was caused by the expansion of early retirement through financial incentives, as about 200 workers were referred to early retirement during the past three years.
He explained that the expansion of early retirement has negatively affected the revenues of the health insurance funds, as every worker in the company is obliged to pay 3% of his salary per month to the family and pensioners' funds.
Al-Hadeed warned that transferring the health insurance file to an external insurance company will reduce the medical services provided to the 13,000 beneficiaries, including workers, their families, and retirees, and will create difficulties when visiting hospitals and other treatment facilities.
Following the company's announcement of the new health insurance project, the administrative body issued letters addressed to the director of the Electricity Company and the Director of Human Resources, affirming its rejection of this project and stating that the company did not provide the members of the union's administrative body with the agreements and appendices related to the new project, in addition to the fact that the members of the administrative body did not sign the project and did not authorize anyone to sign for the union or from outside the union.
According to Article 8 of the Family Medical Services Fund Law and Article 24 of the Health Insurance Fund Law for the company's employees after retirement, no project may be launched without the approval of the members of the Syndicate's administrative body.
Khaldoun al-Hadeed indicated that they will address the concerned authorities, such as the General Federation of Jordanian Trade Unions and the Ministry of Labor, and stressed that they will take escalatory measures, such as holding protests, if they are not responded to.