Structural anchoring of care for the elderly and vulnerable children, based on the Common Good
The Minister-President, Mike Eman, and the Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs, Elderly Care and Addiction Care, Mervin Wyatt-Ras, today announced two far-reaching legislative initiatives that will sustainably strengthen Aruba’s social foundation. These concern the National Ordinance Long-Term Care Aruba and the National Ordinance Allowance for Children with Intensive Care Needs.
With these legislations, the AVP-Futuro government makes a clear choice for structural solutions rooted in the Common Good: the well-being, human dignity, and cohesion of Aruban society, today and in the future.
National Ordinance Long-Term Care Aruba
Own legal framework, own fund, and structural financing
The National Ordinance Long-Term Care Aruba introduces, for the first time, a separate legal framework for long-term care in Aruba. This creates a clear distinction between curative care and long-term support, such as elderly care, care for chronic conditions, and care for persons with disabilities.
Long-term care will be provided with:
- its own budget and structural financial funding;
- a separate Long-Term Care Aruba fund;
- collective coverage based on solidarity;
- execution and management by AZV, within a clear legal framework.
Care will be allocated based on objective needs assessment and organized into care-intensity packages, ranging from home care to residential care in nursing homes. Financing will be designed to be tax-neutral through reallocation within existing resources, without increasing the overall tax burden.
This national ordinance is intended to enter into force on January 1, 2027.
Allowance for Children with Intensive Care Needs
Targeted support for families who carry an extra daily burden
In addition, the government announces the National Ordinance Allowance for Children with Intensive Care Needs. This law provides a monthly financial allowance for families with children who have a disability or condition that results in a demonstrable intensive care need.
The scheme:
- constitutes an extension of social assistance legislation;
- forms part of broader social reforms and purchasing power support;
- aims, subject to budget approval, to provide an allowance of approximately Afl. 500 per month per child.
The ambition is for this scheme to enter into force as soon as possible in 2026.
The Common Good as a Guiding Policy Principle
The government explicitly places both pieces of legislation within the framework of the Common Good as a guiding policy principle. Tasks that serve the Common Good require public responsibility, structural and predictable financing, and sustainable institutional embedding.
Experiences with the General Health Insurance (AZV) and the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) have shown that public tasks with broad social value function better when organized within a clear legal structure, with fixed funding and professional execution. Both care and tourism are recognized in Aruba as components of the Common Good and are therefore firmly embedded.
In that same spirit, the government chooses no longer to make care for the elderly and other vulnerable groups dependent on ad-hoc subsidies or temporary solutions, but to anchor them sustainably in legislation, financing, and organization.
Minister-President Mike Eman states:
“The Common Good is not an abstract concept, but a governance mandate and a societal responsibility. Where the well-being and dignity of people are at stake, the government must ensure structure, continuity, and justice, and broadly involve the community. This policy is a direct expression of that.”
Minister Mervin Wyatt-Ras adds:
“With these legislations, we give recognition to people who often remain invisible: our elderly and families with children who need intensive care. We consciously choose certainty, dignity, and support that is not temporary, but structural and reliable.”
Towards a Future-Proof Social System
With these two legislations, the AVP-Futuro government takes a decisive step toward a humane, just, and future-proof social system, in which care is not seen as a cost item, but as an investment in people and community.
The Parliament of Aruba will receive the national ordinances in the coming period for consideration.