$64,000 surgery handout for well paid insider

AS a newly formed committee sits down in the presidential  palace to discuss the surgery backlog for hundreds of Social Security  (CSS),  patients fresh revelations have appeared in  of a large discretionary payment by President Juan Carlos Varela  to a well paid government employee.

The Presidency has spent at least $63,929 of discretionary funds to cover medical  expenses of a cross country motor cycle enthusiast, reports La Prensa.

The payments were made to cover knee surgeries for Abraham Rafael Pretto, who earns a salary of $4,000 in the Ministry of the Presidency.

In April 2016, the Presidency paid $26,731 for the first operation. In July of that year, it paid another $ 20,567 to “cover the cost of nerve surgery in the left leg” of Pretto.  Another surgery took place in March.

Varela is facing  questions from civil groups and political commentator  over the decision to pay for expensive surgeries for officials linked to his presidency.

Critics say that these funds have been spent on officials who had the economic means to afford private health insurance.

The situation has also lead to Varela promising to prioritize surgeries by Social Security which have been on hold.