The Social Security Bill has returned to the Senate after the Chamber of Deputies made many changes. One of the most important changes is the separation of the social security plans for the private sector and for the public sector. The Dominican Medical Association opposes this move. It favored joint management of both sectors. 81 deputies of the PRD and the PRSC voted on the bill. Deputies of the PLD abandoned the session protesting that the plan would be unsustainable. The president of the Caribbean American Life and General Insurance company, Francisco Cabreja, said that if the bill is approved as is, it will cost the population 19% of their salary – 9% for the pension plan and 10% for the health plan. He said 70% of the cost would be paid by the employer and 30% by the employee. He explained that an employee who makes RD$15,000 a month will be required to pay RD$2,800 to the plan, of which RD$1,300 will go to the pension plan and RD$1,500 to the health plan. Furthermore, he estimated that the state would have to make payments of RD$5,000 million a year into the plan.
