Pensioners in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) celebrate October 25th as their day, and according to the President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pensioners/Seniors Redzo Mehic, there is little reason to celebrate.
”The overall political and economic situation in society directly affects this population. We share the fate of society in very specific circumstances, and bearing in mind the degree of inflation and the daily wildfires in prices and amount of pensions, it can be said with peace of mind that pensioners are not living, but surviving,” Mehic stated.
The lowest pension in FBiH is 424 BAM, but, according to Mehic, there are also lower, so-called proportional pensions (which are realized in two states), which are received by about 60 percent of pensioners.
Mehic recalled that on June 1st, the Association sent the FBiH Government a request to increase the lowest pension, as well as all other pensions.
Also, the Federal Government was asked to come up with a plan for economic and social assistance to that population at the level of FBiH and cantons, because, as Mehic says, there is no percentage increase in pensions that would satisfy since prices are constantly rising.
”We in the management of the Association believe that this is not enough, because if only the lowest pensions are increased, then the rest of us will also reach the zone of receiving the lowest pension. We ask that all pensions be increased except for the maximum because inflation and price growth affect everyone,” said Mehic, noting that they will be persistent in their demands.
Senior citizens are not only troubled by amount of pensions. Besides pensions, one of the most important things is health care.
”That health care in the FBiH is expensive and ineffective was best demonstrated during the COVID-19 epidemic, when all the negativity came to the surface. Because of this, the death rate of pensioners has risen to 7 percent, and it has not been this high since 1997, since the Association existed,” Mehic emphasized.
According to him, the weakness of health care is reflected in the fact that you have to wait an extremely long time for more complex examinations, medicines are the most expensive in the region, and a large part of these medicines are not on the essential lists, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
