Bill 225.

Summary.

Article 1 proposes to amend Article 1 of Law 6 of June 16, 1987. The benefits would cover Panamanian citizens and foreign residents in the national territory aged fifty-five or older if women, or sixty or older if men, as well as all retirees and pension recipients regardless of gender. The provision sets a 50% discount on recreational and entertainment activities, with an exception for certain charitable events. It also establishes discounts for intercity buses, trains, launches, boats and air travel; accommodation in hotels, motels and boarding houses; restaurant meals, subject to an exception for certain small eateries; and fast-food establishments operating under domestic or international franchises.

In health care, the article provides discounts on private hospital and clinic services, medicines, medical consultations, dental care and optometry, as well as prostheses and assistive devices. Insurers whose policies cover illness would have to adjust premiums so that eligible insured persons receive the benefit of those discounts. The article also includes a discount on fees for technical and professional services.

For personal and commercial loans, the proposal reduces closing costs or fees, prohibits charges for discount services, and exempts transactions made in beneficiaries’ names from the surcharge or levy stipulated under the Special Interest Compensation Fund (Fondo Especial de Compensación de Intereses). It also provides a discount on the maximum interest rate that banks, finance companies, cooperatives and credit institutions may charge. For home mortgages on a dwelling used by the borrower, it provides an interest-rate reduction, except for mortgages granted at preferential rates established by law.

Regarding housing and utilities, the proposal freezes property tax where the dwelling is held in the beneficiary’s name and is their only property, and exempts a qualifying home from the betterment levy. It also addresses the effect of a transfer of the property. Discounts apply to passports, monthly electricity consumption, the airport tax or fee, the fixed charge for residential telephone and internet service, and residential water consumption, subject to the stated limits and account-holder requirements. The proposal extends specified benefits to property owned by legally constituted associations, federations and confederations of retirees and pension recipients. It exempts nonprofit organizations of retirees, pension recipients and older adults from certain registration and certification fees at the Public Registry (Registro Público), and provides a discount on coffins, urns and funeral services when the deceased was a retiree, pension recipient or older adult.

Article 2 identifies the amendment to Article 1 of Law 6 of 1987. Article 3 provides for commencement on the day after publication in the Official Gazette (Gaceta Oficial). The proposal concerns the Public Registry and the transport, lodging, food, health care, insurance, credit, utility and funeral-service sectors.