Morocco: These are the unions’ reservations regarding the compulsory health coverage for parents’ bill

The parliamentary groups renewed their rejection of the compulsory health coverage for parents’ bill, in its current form, as it contributes to the imposition of new salaries’ deductions on all the employees and retirees of the public sector, whether their parents are alive or not.

Thouraya Lahresh, the Democratic Confederation of Labour (CTD) ‘s parliamentary adviser, pointed out that her delegation will not vote for this bill, in case it is not amended. Moreover, she explained that the confederation is not against the health coverage of the parents, as it is rather against the government’s deduction of all the employees and retirees’ salaries, without clarifying the articles of this text and their implementation.

In addition, she questioned in a statement to the "Hespress" (Moroccan website): “If more than one son or daughter is employed within the same family, will all of their wages be deducted or will they share the deduction; or will only one of them be charged for the health coverage of the parents? "

The Democratic Confederation of Labour (CTD) stresses the need of the government to provide clarifications regarding the bill, in particular Article 5, which imposes a wage deduction from the public sector employees, and from the pensioners of the same sector, who are not covered by the wage increases, including the latest increase stipulated in the last agreement signed by the government with the most representative trade union centres.

The Democratic Confederation of Labour and the Moroccan Workers’ Union are asking for the implementation of Article 5 of the bill and that the health coverage of parents should be "optional" rather than "compulsory". Accordingly, the workers whose parents are not covered by health coverage are required to pay a new contribution to the Social Security Fund, but the government rejects this formula.

On July 21, 2016, the government approved a bill on the amendment of Law 65.00 on the "Basic Health Coverage Code" for wage earners and pensioners in the public sector, which allows the health coverage to include the parents as well.

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