The Health Insurance Organisation (OAY) and the Ministry of Health are exploring ways to promote natural childbirth.
The OAY’s plan to reduce the number of unnecessary caesarean sections performed in Cyprus includes incentives of up to 15% of reimbursement or penalties of up to 35% for gynaecologists, depending on the percentage of caesarean sections they perform.
According to senior OAY officer Monica Kyriakou, the programme will begin as a pilot. Each month, gynaecologists will receive a detailed report showing the percentage of non-complicated, planned caesareans they have performed. “Every month, they will be informed of their percentage, and at the end of the year, they will see whether they qualify for incentives or face penalties from the organisation,” she explained.
Breakdown:
- Gynaecologists performing 50.01%–60% of non-complicated caesareans will face a 5% reduction on half of their income from non-complicated caesareans.
- Those performing 60.01%–70% will face a 10% reduction on the same income portion.
- For 70.01%–80%, the penalty rises to 15%.
- For 80.01%–90%, the penalty increases to 25%.
- Gynaecologists performing over 90% of non-complicated caesareans will face the maximum 35% reduction.
The scheme aims to encourage a balance between caesarean and natural births by rewarding practitioners with lower rates of caesareans and penalising those exceeding certain thresholds.
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