Pharmacist fee will be free from July, but only after someone figures out how to do it
The government promised free pharmacist services from January, but it turns out the technicians are still learning how to turn on a computer.
Liepāja residents who showed up at the "Mēness" pharmacy chain for their daily vitamins and heart medication can continue paying those famous 75 cents for a little while longer. Although the government promised that pharmacist services would be free from January, it turns out that "due to technical reasons" nobody knows how to make it happen.
As the Ministry of Health explains, the problem is with the e-health system, which needs "adjustments and acceptance tests." Apparently our country's IT specialists are as fast as the No. 5 tram route in winter - moving forward, but very, very slowly.
"I already thought something wasn't right when the pharmacist still asked me to pay in January," says Karosta resident Ausma. "But I thought - maybe she just forgot it's the new year now."
Interestingly, the government has already calculated how much money they won't spend this year - 5 million euros. Not bad - first don't implement the system, then calculate how much you'll save by not implementing it. Such mathematics would have received a high grade even at Liepāja's 15th Secondary School.
Meanwhile in Riga, of course, everyone is planning how to redirect these unspent millions to other projects. Because why give Liepāja residents cheaper medicine when you can finance another bureaucrat's dream about "developing a new drug markup model system"? Sounds as exciting as our rainy autumn weather.
⚠️ Satirical article. Facts are preserved, but the presentation is humorous. For accurate information, please refer to the original source.