Greece’s private diagnostic centers on indefinite strike as of June 10

At the center of the disagreement is the so-called “clawback policy”, that is the amount of money the private diagnostic centers and medical laboratories have to return to the state.

On Tuesday, a second meeting of representatives of the Association with Health Minister Andrea Xanthos will be held in a desperate attempt to find a golden incision and avoid suffering for thousands of people.“Diagnostic Centers and Laboratories will remain closed for an indefinite period”, Georgios Vougioukas, president of the Pan-Hellenic Association of Medical Diagnostic Centers (PASIDIK), reiterated on Sunday.

Vougioukas justified the strike saying that the clawback policy forces them to return to the state 110 million euros only for 2018.

Clawback and rebate mechanisms have been imposed with the bailout agreements and it means insurance refunds according to the volume of examinations conducted by the Diagnostic Centers.

According to Vougioukas, while the clawback was implemented in 2013 and for a scheduled duration of 2-3 years, the government has extended their implementation until 2022.

He added that while the Prime Minister says the country exited the bailout agreements, the state “still grabbing the money of the indebted facilities.”

Private diagnostic centers offer alternative and quick service for laboratory tests, scans etc to insured patients as appointments in public hospitals can take weeks.