The Palau government has begun working out the preliminary details of an agreement with the airline company that will reduce the amount employees will pay if they are referred for treatment abroad.
President Johnson Toribiong met with several officials of the airline company to discuss the proposed agreement last week.
“The details are still being worked out,” he said.
Toribiong thanked the airline company for agreeing to such an arrangement.
“This will unburden our employees who have to shoulder huge amounts for treatment abroad,” he pointed out.
Palau ha a medical referral tie-up with the Philippines and the United States, and is also seeking to have the same arrangement with Taiwan.
Under the medical referral program, sick people from this island whose ailments are beyond the care and capabilities of existing medical facilities in Palau, are referred for medical treatment off-island.
Expenses for their treatment abroad are shouldered by both the patient and by the government on a 50-50 basis.
Delta Airlines is the world’s largest commercial carrier. Delta currently operates flights from Nagoya, Japan to Detroit, Guam, Saipan and Manila.
Delta Airlines flies to Palau four times a week using a 216-seat Boeing 767-300ER passenger jet with 35 business elite and 181 economy seats.
