Healthcare in Macedonia utilizes a mixture of a public and private healthcare system. All residents are eligible to receive free state-funded healthcare and have the option of receiving private healthcare for treatments that the public system does not cover. Public healthcare in Macedonia often comes with long wait times and although public hospitals have basic medical supplies, they do not have specialized treatments. For these specialized treatments, residents typically seek private treatment where they must pay out of pocket or buy private insurance on top of their free healthcare.

Improvements in Overall Health

North Macedonia did not become a part of NATO until 2019, and still has not received admission into the E.U. As a result, its healthcare system has developed slower than member countries. Despite this, North Macedonia has shown growth in overall health. The introduction of private healthcare allowed residents to seek a wider range of treatments and cut down wait times. Life expectancy has grown from 71.7 years in 1991 to 75.1 years in 2010. However, this is still lower than the E.U.’s average life expectancy which is 80.2.  Although life expectancy has grown, North Macedonia’s infant mortality rate is still above average.

North Macedonia reached a European record of 14.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015. To compare, the average mortality rate in Europe for 2015 was 5.2 deaths per 1,000 live births. The high infant mortality rate is likely the result of outdated equipment at public health facilities and a shortage of qualified health workers. Only 6.5% of North Macedonia’s GDP goes towards healthcare, and therefore healthcare in Macedonia is often reliant on outside donations. These conditions have caused health workers to leave the Macedonian healthcare system in search of better working conditions. The health ministry has worked to purchase new equipment as well as increase the amount of qualified staff in public hospitals by hiring more workers. Today, the infant mortality rate in North Macedonia is 10.102 deaths per 1,000 births. This is an improvement, and hopefully, with continued programs, the numbers will continue to decrease. Organizations such as Project HOPE and WHO have already made a direct impact on Macedonia’s healthcare system.

Organizations Combating Infant Mortality

Project HOPE has donated over $80 million worth of medicines, medical supplies and medical equipment to hospitals throughout North Macedonia since 2007. Starting in 2017, most of these donations went to hospitals specializing in infant care. Project HOPE also provides training for healthcare workers so they can adapt to the updated equipment. The current drop in the infant mortality rate is due to these donations that allow hospitals to buy updated equipment and retain healthcare workers through training. There is only one hospital in North Macedonia that accepts low birth-rate and premature babies, University Clinical Center at Mother Theresa. Therefore, Project HOPE’s donation has greatly lessened the burden on this hospital to care for infants. Since Project HOPE implemented this program, the number of deliveries at Mother Theresa has increased by 40%.

WHO has also assisted North Macedonia in developing a new 2020 healthcare plan for infants and mothers. This plan would link healthcare facilities in the country and classify them by level of service to ensure everyone is receiving the appropriate care. It should also improve transportation between hospitals to increase the continuity of care between locations. This shared communication and learning between healthcare facilities is imperative since there are only nine hospitals in Macedonia for 2.08 million people and seven of those hospitals are in the country’s capital, Skopje. Increasing transportation and communication will ensure that those living outside of the capital are receiving quality healthcare. Slowly but surely with these new policies in place, North Macedonia’s infant mortality rate will continue to drop.

– Rae Brozovich
Photo: Flickr

The post Improving Healthcare in Macedonia appeared first on The Borgen Project.

Original Source: borgenproject.org

Personal Capital only charges you a small commission if you decide you want to maximize your investments via a personal consultation with one of its own Financial Advisors. Around 1.8 million people use Personal Capital and many of them have switched from Quicken, especially those with investments. The latest version of Quicken For Mac in 2022 still hasn’t caught-up with the Windows version leaving many Mac users dissapointed. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. These tests were performed on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone. When a tool offered both a mobile and laptop experience, both were tested to see how well they worked together.

This is useful because one can see where money is going and how much is spent at a single glance, without the need to examine the reports. So, if your business is facing the following challenges with regards to bookkeeping, then its time that you switch to a cloud accounting software. Cloud accounting software is constantly updated by the in-house developers for change in accounting rules or taxation laws. So you do not have to worry about your financial statements, tax reports, invoices, or other business forms or documents not incorporating the latest changes. For instance, the employees can access timesheets in order to regularly update their logged in hours.

What is the Purpose of Accounting Software?

If you run a tight ship and are quite good with your finances, then a basic package will more than suffice. Billing itself as an alternative to Quicken sets a high bar for AceMoney Lite, but it’s a target it manages to reach, even in its free, cut-down iteration. There’s only support for two accounts in AceMoney Lite, but this should be enough for many people. Its reporting features are quite strong if not spectacular to look at, and one of Moneydance’s most useful sections is its account register.

Track your expenses by connecting your Quickbooks accountant to your bank accounts, credit cards, and much more. Create custom rules to categorise your expenses and generate reports to know your spendings.

When is the Best Time to Switch to Cloud Accounting Software?

Moneydance will also download stock prices automatically in real time. Banktivity supports traditional and envelope budgeting with useful setup wizards to get you going. There are Quick Reports for instant overviews of the essentials and you can create highly customized reports for virtually any kind of spending. Banktivity will import your accounts from Quicken and other finance software. You can generate detailed reports and charts to see exactly where your money is going to make tax reporting less stressful and much easier.

If any errors occur, you can always go in and edit but this feature saves you a lot of time. They also use easy-to-read color coding to help you visualize your budgeting. Another great feature included is the ability to pay 12 electronic bills and three check bills per month with no fees. Moneydance is best home accounting software for personal and home use.

Best Solution for Businesses

Alternatives such as Personal Capital, Banktivity and Moneydance all feature robust investment tracking as standard. Sometimes this is not an application’s fault and is due to changes made by banks on how third party software connects to them. The fact that you can use it completely for free is obviously a massive advantage compared to any other personal finance tool out there. If you’re looking to maximize your investments as well as manage your budget, Home Accounting Software then Personal Capital is still the best of the lot. MoneyWorks Cashbook is completely free to use and is ideal for small organizations that need a simple financial management solution. MoneyWell is unique in that it uses an envelope budgeting system to help you manage your finances better. Although You Need a Budget can’t fully compare with Quicken, if you’re looking for the best budgeting software for your Mac, its definitely a contender.

This is because we fail to organise our home expenses, payments, and prepare budgets to have full command over our personal financial goals. System Requirementsfor a list of supported browsers) and an Internet connection (a high-speed connection is recommended). The https://accounting-services.net/ QuickBooks Online mobile app works with iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Not all features are available on the mobile apps and mobile browser. QuickBooks Online mobile access is included with your QuickBooks Online subscription at no additional cost.

Ready to take control of yourfinancial future?

Note that some banks may levy a small charge for connecting your account to a third-party app via Direct Connect so it’s always wise to check with your financial institution first. CountAbout is very good value for money and considerably cheaper than most personal finance software that supports Direct Connect. The difference is that the Premium subscription includes Direct Connect which allows you to automatically download transactions from bank, credit card and investment institutions. Because of the way it approaches budgeting, YNAB has proved very effective at helping users to save money and get their finances in order which is made it very popular with Mac and PC users alike.

This free, simple mobile app isn’t specifically personal finance software, which makes it a dark horse but potentially perfect for people who want to focus on overall healthy habits. If you consider money as just one piece of living your best life, check out this handy little app and integrate financial habits into other practices you’d like to develop. Honeydue offers the typical features of personal finance software, but also provides the ability to mark an account as joint or just the responsibility of one person in the relationship. Additional couple-centric features include marking a transaction for splitting, or notifying you both when a bill gets paid – particularly helpful for couples who divvy up the bills. You can add a note or question to a transaction, and your partner will be notified that it’s there. Personal Capital, though, has foregone budgeting and bill-payment tools to focus on next-level concerns. ” It’s next-level personal finance software, best for people who have gotten to that next level.

We found that SEE Finance 2 is one of the best personal finance software for Mac when it comes to importing Quicken QIF data accurately. The Moneydance iPad and iPhone apps are both free so you can manage your budgeting on the move although it’s only really useful for manually inputting transactions. Moneydance also has some powerful reporting tools that compare favorably with Quicken and it can generate reports for any of your accounts, savings or investments. Banktivity will automatically connect to and download transactions from your bank or other financial institution in real time. Long before Quicken for Mac, Banktivity supported things like online banking integration, bill pay, envelope and full year budgeting, loan amortization and multi-currency support. If Cloud based apps are not your thing and you want a dedicated Mac desktop app, Moneyspire is an excellent no-nonsense personal budgeting software for both Mac and Windows. It’s clear, easy to use and has lots of features compared to most mobile budgeting apps.

Stacie Sulzen.

Courtesy of Stacie Sulzen; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

The Unemployed States of America takes readers deep inside the decimated American workforce.
Stacie Sulzen is a 51-year-old bartender based in Kansas City, Kansas.
Her bar closed at midnight on March 16, and she hasn’t been back since.
It took her about three months to start getting unemployment, and she didn’t have any money left by the time it arrived.
This is her story, as told to Jill Dutton. 
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

I’d worked as a bartender for 27 years when the shutdown of the bars went into effect in Kansas. I was working at Reich’s Club, a small dive bar in Kansas City, Kansas, when the owner told me on March 16 to close the doors at midnight. 

I haven’t been back since.

It was such an uncertain time. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I didn’t really think it would last. I figured a week or two and things would start going back to normal. The day after closing, I went out and bought a bunch of cans of soup and TV dinners.

The bar was sold during the shutdown period and the new owner, not knowing how long it would last, began gutting the bar to make renovations. At first, when I heard the previous owner washed his hands of it, I wondered if I’d have a job to go back to at all. The new owner does plan to bring us back, but it’s not ready to open yet.

In 27 years as a bartender, I’ve never taken a day off that I was scheduled to work. I would even cover other people’s shifts, often working double shifts. I just worked all the time. So at first, it was kind of neat to have some time off. You don’t get vacation days when you’re a bartender. There’s no insurance, no 401(k) — you live on tips and that’s how you live.

The first couple weeks, it was nice to sleep in and know that no one was going to call me into work. Then it got to the point where I was ready for the vacation to be over and get back to work. Food was running out; money was running out. It took about three months to start getting unemployment. 

Luckily, I have friends and family that helped me out. For my bills, when they would call, I would tell them that as soon as I had some money, I would send it their way. I was lucky that I never got any threats of the electricity being shut off, and my landlord was very kind and never said a word about my rent being late. I was very fortunate because I knew a lot of people who didn’t have understanding landlords.

By the time I received my first unemployment check, I didn’t have any money left.

I paid my electric bill and gave the rest of that first check to my landlord, except for a small bit I kept for myself. I did that again with the next few checks. So for the first month of getting unemployment I was still broke, because I was trying to catch up from three months of arrears.

The Kansas unemployment site was screwy, too. Even once I was getting checks, the site would go down and I couldn’t file a claim. Or I would file a claim and get an error message. It was a mess. It took me probably a month to get through by phone to the unemployment office just so I could get the errors fixed regarding the back pay I was owed. For those three months of unemployment in the beginning, I was owed five weeks of back pay. Finally, last week, I received the back pay.

I used the money to pay off all my bills. I actually paid ahead because I don’t know how long this will continue. My eligibility for unemployment has now run out. I filed for an extension a couple weeks ago, but again, haven’t heard anything yet.

When I was younger, I did some factory work. It seems like everyone I know who works in a factory hasn’t missed a beat because they’re considered essential workers. So I was thinking about doing that. I mean, there have been threats of them shutting the bars down again, so bartending or serving doesn’t look too promising going forward.

I have a job waiting for me when the remodeling at the bar is finished, but I can’t go to work until then. And even then, only half-capacity is allowed, so there isn’t much opportunity for tips.

I’m thinking factory work will be where I need to go.

I’ve been happy bartending — especially the socialization that comes with the job — so I know I’ll miss that if I have to take a factory job. Really, I worry that I won’t be able to find any job. What if everyone else decides to do the same thing as me and go into factory work? There might not be a job to go to. 

I’m glad I was able to prepay my bills for a few months, but after that, the future looks uncertain.

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