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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The weight of spending on medicines in relation to pensioners' income has increased during the last decade, because the increase in pensions has been smaller than inflation.
Nurie Kuliçi worked for 25 years in education in the northern region of Tropoja and 11 years in various jobs in Tirana, where she moved in 2006. Her long career in community service was rewarded with a monthly pension of 19,000 lek, from which he spends 7 thousand lek per month on medicines.
"I spend on blood pressure and blood fat medicine," said the 70-year-old woman. "Also, because of rheumatism, I have to take Omega 3, multivitamins...", she explained, while adding that she only gets 1,300 lek per month from the reimbursement of the drugs she receives from the public health insurance scheme.
Although pensioners are among the categories of people who benefit from drug reimbursement from the Compulsory Health Care Insurance Fund, FSDKSH, the data collected by Citizens.al through an online survey show that the vast majority of them pay money out of pocket to buy drugs .
This expense weighs on their fragile family economy, which relies on modest old-age pensions and financial remittances from migrant children. The weight of spending on medicines in relation to pensioners' income has increased during the last decade, because the increase in pensions has been smaller than inflation.
Since 2017, inflation among pensioners is measured separately from the average inflation in the country.
"Pensioners do not have the same consumption basket as the one that is calculated for inflation, as they consume more medicines, food products," says Klodian Muço, an economic expert. "So inflation is always lower than the real basket of expenses made by pensioners," added Muço.
The cost of medicines burdens pensioners
According to the data of the World Health Organization, WHO, about 60% of the health services in Albania are covered by the citizens' pockets. This cost, which is estimated at 27,000 ALL per year, particularly burdens pensioners, due to their small pensions.
Through an online survey carried out with the 'Engaged Community Reporting' (ECR) application, Citizens.al collected the opinions of dozens of citizens of retirement age and their experiences in coping with drug expenses. Most reported that medicine was one of the main components of their monthly expenses.
Of the 50 pensioners who completed the survey, 43.8% of them stated that they bought their medicines at the pharmacy at full cost, 21.9% with partial reimbursement and 17.2% with full reimbursement. While, a part of them (15%) expected the medicines to be brought to them by their children abroad.
"Costs for health services are too high, the quality of medicines is poor, so we order them abroad," wrote Vera Xheka from the southeastern city of Bilishti.
Ilirjana Mandreja, another pensioner, says that a good part of her and her husband's pension goes to medicines and health expenses.
"Somewhere around 150,000 (old) lek we spend on medicines and 150,000 on water, electricity, telephone, internet", she explained. The public health service overloaded with patients forces pensioners to often go to the private sector for services.
"I had to do an analysis because I was sick, he told me to come after a month. But what was the value of that analysis after a month? I was forced to do them in private", said Ilirjana Mandreja.
Meanwhile, Ilir Mehmeti estimates that the monthly expenses for medicines take up 35% of his pension of 16,000 ALL.
"I take a medicine for the prostate that costs 16,000 Lek, 10,000 Lek goes to diabetes. 25,000 lek is my diabetes pills," he explained.
"So it costs almost 52,000 Lek with all the blood thinners and some paracetamol," - confessed Iliri, who says that he does not benefit from a refund.
Referring to the official data of the Institute of Social Insurance (ISSH), the average pension in 2023 was 15,569 ALL and suffered an increase of only 444 ALL from the previous year.
According to the World Bank, the poverty line in our country is 6.7 dollars per day per person, which means that a significant part of pensioners touch this threshold.
"Currently INSTAT has calculated 640 new lek per day in 2022, which means that almost 40% of the Albanian population lives with less than this amount of money," Klodian Muço explained.
Unaffordable increase in prices
In addition to the high costs of medicines that they pay out of pocket, Albanian pensioners face the increase in the prices of basket products, which eats up another significant part of their pension, putting them in difficulty to feed themselves.
"The simplest ones, an apple, a banana, a soup, an egg, a tea, a yogurt, nothing else," said Nurie Kuliçi, counting the products in the basket she bought last time at the market. "If that child doesn't send me any money, I won't even provide the monthly bread," she complained.
87.5% of the pensioners who responded to the Citizens.al survey said that at the end of the month you have no money left, while 72.1% of them said that they help their children with money, due to low pensions. Meanwhile, 14% of them report that they borrow money from relatives or buy the products they want to consume.
During the last years, the cost of products has increased due to the high inflation of the food basket. In June 2022, inflation reached 7.4%, the highest level in Albania since 1998.
Ushqimet ishin një nga kategoritë që u ndikuan më shumë nga kjo rritje e çmimeve, ku buka dhe drithërat u shtrenjtuan me 20%, vaji dhe yndyrat me 30%, ndjekur nga bulmeti me 19% dhe mishi me 9%. Edhe pse me ritme më të ulëta, edhe në vitin 2023 dhe 2024 kurba e çmimeve ka qenë në rritje.
“Nuk i arrijmë dot, djathërat e shtrenjtë, mishi që është 25-26 mijë lekë, filetoja e viçit, janë gjëra që ne nuk i shohim”, – tregon Ilirjana Mandreja, e cila rrëfen se për të blerë produktet e shportës ajo gjurmon tregjet e një cilësie të dobët, por që shiten lirë. “Jo vetëm marrim më pak, por marrim dhe cilësinë më të dobët,”- shtoi ajo.
Për Ilirjanën dhe bashkëshortin e saj mjaft produkte bazë janë kthyer në luks, ndërsa për shkak të pamundësisë ekonomike ka reduktuar edhe sasinë e produkteve që blen.
Pensionet në vendnumëro
Informaliteti dhe puna në të zezë në treg ul numrin e kontribuuesve në skemën e Sigurimeve Shoqërore dhe ndëshkon pensionistët.
Nurie Kuliçi ka punuar 11 vite si kameriere dhe banakiere në të zezë, pa kontratë. Si pasojë, masa aktuale e pensionit i referohet vetëm viteve të punës si mësuese.
“Isha e detyruar, isha me katër fëmijë të vegjël, im shoq ishte i sëmurë,” -rrëfeu ajo, ndërsa theksoi se i “duhej buka e fëmijëve”.
Ndërsa pagat e administratës kanë pësuar një rritje të ndjeshme, pensionet kanë ngecur në vend dhe kanë pësuar një rritje me vetëm 6%, krahasuar me ato para pandemisë.
Ilir Mehmeti, me profesion topograf prej vitit 1975, doli në pension 4 vite më parë. I pakënaqur për masën e pensionit prej 21. 900 lekë, ai thotë se u penalizua nga pagesat me dy bilance.
“Një pjesë të pagës na e jepnin në bankë, një pjesë në dorë, ndaj edhe pensionet dalin të vogla,” -shpjegoi ai. “Tani kur vjen në fund thotë jo të kishe paguar më shumë,”– shtoi Iliri.
Sipas skemës aktuale publike të pensioneve, nevojiten 35 vite sigurime shoqërore si kontribute për të përfituar pension të plotë, ndërsa periudha minimale për të siguruar pensionin është 15 vite.
Në vitin 2023, Sipas Institutit të Sigurimeve Shoqërore, është shtuar numri i personave që kanë dalë në pension të pjesshëm, pasi nuk kanë mundur të plotësojnë vitet e plota të punës. Mesatarisht, qytetarët që dolën në pension në vitin 2023 kishin punuar me sigurime për 26,8 vite, shumë më pak se sa kriteri ligjor prej 35 vitesh për pension të plotë.
Sipas Klodian Muços është e vështirë të themi sa duhet të jetë një pension për të qenë dinjitoz, por ai sugjeron se së paku duhet të jetë sa minimumi jetik i propozuar nga “Avokati i Popullit”. Mirëpo, vendi ynë ende nuk ka një minimum jetik të përcaktuar, por ofron një ndihmë sociale prej 8 mijë lekësh në muaj, duke mos garantuar kësisoj mirëqenie të qytetarëve.
“Aktualisht pensioni mesatar në Shqipëri është më pak se sa minimumi jetik, llogaritet diku te 18800 mijë lekë, por në qoftë se do ti ndanim pensionet pastaj në pension qyteti dhe pension fshati janë shumë më të ulët se sa minimumi jetik,” -tha ai.
Pensionet dhe kontribuuesit në skemë
According to the Social Insurance Institute, there were 590,649 people in the pension scheme for 2023, of which city pensioners increased by 22,330 people, while rural pensioners decreased by 4,414 people. In total, the scheme grew by 17,913 more beneficiaries than in 2022.
According to Klodian Muço, the rapid aging of the population risks putting the pension system into crisis.
"In 1990, four people were working and only one received an old-age pension. Currently, we have 1.17 contributors for one beneficiary", said Muço.
"If we don't have real, concrete intervention, most likely in 2030, the scheme goes into 'default', so the scheme is no longer affordable", he explained.
Besnik Keta, a former miner for 3 decades in the Batër-Martanesh mine, took early retirement in 2001 and received only 5,100 ALL. When he retired fully in 2005, he received only 12,000 ALL monthly pension.
"I contested this, for six months I did not receive my pension at all. I was fully convinced that they had miscalculated me. It turned out that I had been denied 32 thousand old lek at that time. From 120 it went to 152", Keta confessed.
However, his insistence did not end there. In 2019 he became part of miners' protests for more rights.
"Whoever reached the age of 65 at that time was given 1% for up to 20 years of work. And I received 65 thousand lek at that time. 75 thousand lek plus went today. Today, just by insisting on my rights, I have a pension of 39,000 Lek," Besnik Keta proudly confesses, even though he feels pain for his underground colleagues who rarely receive a 30,000 Lek pension.
After a life dedicated to education, Nurie Kuliçi also feels disappointed by the pension she receives.
"All those students who are in every corner of the world today, are distinguished because I left my soul with them as if they were my children", she said. "This is not life, we just breathe", Kuliçi concluded./Citizens Channel
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