The Danish government has agreed to pay for patients sent from Greenland for treatment in Denmark.
A document from the Finance and Tax Committee of the Greenland Parliament shows how much money Greenland specifically expects to save from the agreement, as well as how Greenland wants to spend the money in other areas.
If we first look at the savings, it appears from the document that Greenland wants to reduce the allocation for somatic patient treatment abroad by 132.7 million kroner. DKK
Psychiatric patient treatment abroad is to be reduced by DKK 24.3 million, and the allocation for psychiatric placement under the Criminal Code is to be reduced by DKK 26 million.
This means a saving in 2026 of a total of DKK 183 million.
Proposed to be distributed to a number of projects
The large saving is proposed to be used for a number of other projects:
DKK 35 million for compensation
As can be seen from the list above, it is proposed to allocate a full DKK 35 million to the Contraception Case, also known as the IUD case.
The Greenland Government has previously allocated DKK 4.5 million. DKK to provide compensation to women who have been given contraception without consent in the years after the health sector was taken back in 1992.
The problem is that far more women than expected have applied for compensation - Naalakkersuisut has previously announced that 111 applications for compensation are being processed.
If each of the 111 women is awarded DKK 300,000 in compensation, a total of DKK 33.3 million will have to be collected from the national treasury.
If the above proposal from Naalakkersuisut is approved, this maneuver could secure the money for the compensation.
The committee has asked questions and is awaiting approval
It appears from the document from the Finance and Tax Committee that the committee has not immediately accepted Naalakkersuisut's proposal.
Instead, the committee has asked a number of questions to the Government of Greenland and is awaiting answers to these before any approval.
Among other things, the committee would like to receive information on how the Government of Greenland will ensure compliance with limits for expenditure increases in the Finance Act from year to year during the period in which Denmark provides this subsidy.
It is not clear from the document how long Denmark will provide the subsidy, but the money comes from a pool that has been allocated for four years.
On February 9 this year, the Minister of Finance of Greenland, Múte B. Egede (IA), announced that he had reached an agreement with the Danish Minister of Finance that Denmark would in future cover the basic costs of patients from Greenland who are sent for treatment in Denmark.
