By: Tanja Brkić / Nova24TV.si
In July, the National Assembly adopted the draft law on amendments and additions to the long-term care law (amendment of the law). Although the previous government’s plan for the law was very clear and carefully planned, the current government found a way to push back the implementation date of the law to January 1st, 2024, and in the meantime, necessary changes to the law and by-laws were to be prepared.
In the SDS party, they are convinced that if the previous government had continued its work after the April elections, care fees in homes for the elderly would certainly not have risen and the law on long-term care would have been applied as it was adopted, from January 1st, 2023. Therefore, no referendum would be necessary in such a case. Golob’s government, however, adopted a harmful law that prevents the implementation of a law that benefits people, especially the elderly, and is already being implemented in individual parts (e-care…). Since the amendment to the law could not be rejected in the parliamentary procedure, the only way to prevent harmful consequences for the people is a referendum.
The government should stop the manipulations
As they wrote on their website, they expect the current government and the competent ministry not to impose the obligations that must be provided to employees according to the annex to the collective agreement on the users of services in homes for the elderly. They also expect that the minister and other authorities will stop manipulating the fact that maintenance fees in homes will be higher because of the referendum, “which is not true. If the maintenance fees are to rise, the Ministry of Labour under the leadership of Luka Mesec from the Levica party and the government are responsible for this. We expect the Ministry of Labour to prepare everything necessary for the implementation of the Act on long-term care, i.e., from January 1st, 2023,” they wrote.