Welfare Minister Reinis Uzulnieks is open to discussing the possibility for pensioners to direct part of their second-level pension savings to healthcare, according to his statement in an interview with the Latvian Television program "Morning Panorama," LETA reports.
The Ministry of Welfare (MW) and the government as a whole do not support the idea of allowing residents to withdraw their second-level pension savings. As Uzulnieks noted, if there is a desire to allow the use of these funds for any purposes, such a decision should not be spontaneous and requires a serious assessment of the possible consequences in the future.
According to the minister, a situation should not be created where a person withdraws second-level pension savings, leading to a reduction in the size of their pension. He emphasized that it is important for him as a minister that a person receives the maximum possible pension upon retirement.
Uzulnieks added that if, as a result of the MW's assessment, it is concluded that after retirement a person can direct part of their savings to healthcare and it would be beneficial for them, "then this can be tried to be implemented."
"Let the experts evaluate the details, but the possibility of directing part of the funds to health in the future needs to be considered," said the minister.
He reminded that most residents of Latvia support the idea of allowing the withdrawal of second-level pension savings; however, both experts and developers of the pension system consider this a bad idea, as evidenced by the example of Estonia.
As reported, the Saeima recently returned the residents' initiatives regarding the possibility of withdrawing second-level pension savings to the Committee on Mandates, Ethics, and Submissions. Earlier, the committee decided to reject the initiatives, but the parliament did not support this decision, and the issue was sent for reconsideration.
Previously, ministries, the financial sector, and social partners called for not supporting these initiatives.
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