Ministry of Health reinstates allowances for single pensioners from August 20
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, August 6
The Ministry of Health will start to release special allowances for single pensioners, whose state assistance was previously suspended, from August 20. The statement was made by the Deputy Minister of Health, Zaza Sopromadze, at a press conference on August 5, without specifying the amount of money they intend to allocate for the individuals.
“From August 20, the single pensioners, whose allowances have been suspended for a certain period of time, will be able to get assistance in an ordinary manner,” stated Sopromadze.
He also noted that the Ministry would release other compensations too, after the methodology of socially vulnerable people has been changed and refined.
According to Sopromadze, nearly 1,600,000 people have applied to the Social Service Agency for financial assistance. He said that the government assists only those people who are extremely poor, and that they cannot provide financial assistance to everyone.
The Deputy Minister noted that the government and the Health Ministry have implemented many social projects, like the Universal Health Insurance Program and denied the spread information that the program might be abolished soon.
“Recently we have seen a deliberate campaign from our opponents, who aim to manipulate with people and use them for their political purposes. The government will do its best not to leave poor families and single pensioners in poverty,” Sopromadze stressed.
A new project that was helping many of Georgia’s oldest and socially vulnerable residents was drafted by the Minister of Health Davit Sergeenko.
The new program, which started in May, allowed the Government to analyze and understand the needs of socially vulnerable families better and provide a clearer picture of those who needed Government assistance.
According to the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the methodology has been amended and refined several times since 2012 and the Ministry has been working continually to adopt a better system.
