The Scars of the Erasure_web

Erasure_4a 10.1.11 20:29 Page 37REGISTERED AS WORKERS, ERASED AS NON-SLOVENES37social security, perhaps even a relatively high social status although they wereimmigrants and many among them industrial workers. Or, as they themselvessaid, “we lived normally,” “without special problems.”The second process – the growing inequality of access – particularly ma -nifested itself in the fact that the right to purchase a socially-owned apartmentat a non-commercial price was tied to citizenship. Although for many years theerased people paid contributions to the housing fund, they were deprived of theopportunity to buy their apartments. The passage below illustrates this situation:We got the apartment from the company. They were saying that they would moveus. [My husband] went to his former employer and then they signed that we couldstay in the apartment. […] We received an offer to buy it … However, becausewe didn’t have permanent residence we couldn’t do it. So we still pay rent. It’s biggerthan would be a monthly loan installment. We pay 140 euros plus expenses.But it’s only one room, 39 square meters. (Jasna, 61)5.3 Health protection 19The present health care system is different from the one in the past in thataccess to health services is now strictly tied to the type and scope of health insurance.In the previous system the conviction was that, with the help of solida -rity, health care services could be provided to everyone. Tone Košir writes (1992)that this right was extended without material coverage (which allegedly was thereason for the reform of the health care system) and that, at least theoretically,all health services were accessible to everyone without restrictions, i.e. regardlessof a person’s financial ability. By contrast, in the new system where accessto health services is tied to insurance, the door to medical institutions was closedfor the erased people. One interviewee related that he was even denied medicalservices for payment:I had an accident and I hit my head. I went to the Koper health care center andthe nurse asked about my insurance. I told her I didn’t have any. “I don’t haveany insurance, I’ll pay the costs.” The answer was that I couldn’t be examined becauseI didn’t have insurance. […] They didn’t want to take me in even for money.I didn’t plead with them, I just left. I went to a bar with a wound on my head.The barmaid asked me what happened, what it was on my head. She took alcoholand disinfected my wound instead of a doctor or a nurse. I’ll never forget it. Itburnt, the wound was quite deep. […] After that I never attempted to go to thedoctor again. Perhaps it contributed a little to my falling ill with cancer later.(Edin, 45)19 For a detailed overview of the exclusion from the health care system, see Lipovec Čebron 2007a, 2007b and LipovecČebron in this volume.