#reducing healthcare costs

[irvinwoods01]

Explore four straightforward strategies for lowering operational costs in healthcare. This video presents actionable tips to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and ultimately improve financial performance in healthcare organizations. Discover practical solutions to reduce expenses and maximize resources.

[mindbodyhealth-blog]

Understanding the Crucial Role of Regular Health Check-ups for Optimal Wellness

Regular health check-ups refer to the routine medical examinations or tests that are conducted to assess an individual’s overall health status. These check-ups are crucial as they help in early detection and prevention of potential health issues. They can include various tests such as blood tests, physical examinations, screenings, and consultations with doctors. The importance of regular health…

[chewablepebbles]

Topiramate is my new best friend forever that shit is so magical. And only three dollars a month!!!!!!!!!!

[villageidiotwitch]

It's so funny when conservatives are like "if we raise minimum wage it'll hurt small businesses" like babygirl every policy you've ever enacted has made it damn near impossible to run a small business

[crypto-1234]

Driving Crypto Excellence: ValueZone and PRWireNow Transforming the Market

As one of the most promising cryptocurrency exchange platforms, ValueZone achieves major milestones in light of a very aggressive bull run witnessed across the altcoin market. By utilizing the latest levels in advanced technology and deployment of professional market acumen, ValueZone has remained ahead in this fast-evolving crypto ecosystem and therefore continues records made with each trading volume crossed and community engagements as well. At the same time, the participation of PRWireNow, a known face in the line of press release distribution, has completely amplified the visibility and market reach for ValueZone.

Key Highlights:

Trading Volume: ValueZone has shown immense rising volumes with increasing interest in investment and investment in altcoin. The utilization of advanced tools along with a wide array of features of the platform has helped traders make the most out of the market opportunities.

Sophisticated Trading Tools: ValueZone also has some very sophisticated trading tools, which allow traders to benefit from market trends. Using these tools, the trades would be able to optimize their trading strategy to such an extent, that they will maximize their portfolio in such a way they can make the best of the altcoin bull run.

Massive Growth of New User Signups: It is massively growing for new users signing up that are coming onto the site every single day. In a way, reflecting that ValueZone is growing its repute and reliability within the crypto trading domain. The more users on the site, the more evidence that this site is reliable and efficient within the highly volatile cryptocurrency market.

It ensures that the transactions are quickened up and made secure, and hence it is building the reputation as an effective platform for trading. Such great security strengths together with the quickness of processing the transaction over the given platform make it possible to have the users trade with great confidence and peace.

Strategic PR Partnership: The name ValueZone appears to have been heard more frequently since the partnership with PRWireNow. PRWireNow could communicate all of the important changes made in ValueZone, which has increased credibility and visibility in the market for the platform.

About ValueZone:

ValueZone is all set to deliver the most fantastic trading experience to the investors and lovers of this cryptocurrency. Innovation, security, and user satisfaction put it at number one in the dynamic market of cryptocurrency. The strategic alliance with PRWireNow notched up the visibility and engagement proofs of several degrees. With the newest technology and people-centric features, ValueZone is always ahead in the domain of cryptocurrency trading.

About PRWireNow

PRWireNow is the top distributor for all companies issuing news and information about their products or services in the UK. Cost-effective in-house technology gives maximum media reach and publicity. Specializing in relevant, effective, and impactful press releases, we ensure your story is heard and echoed. PRWireNow has, of course, been doing a wonderful job when it comes to writing compelling narratives and further getting these to the correct channels. That has made it a trusted associate of businesses that are looking to magnify their market presence.

How PRWireNow Helps:

Wide Network: PRWireNow possesses a wide network which assures that press releases reach the right media members, key personalities, and relevant stakeholders. This way, you get wide-reaching visibility assurance and know that your news will be seen by all the right people.

Targeted Distribution: With sophisticated targeting methodologies, PRWireNow achieves the feat of messages striking the most relevant audience. PRWireNow will ensure that the message is impactful and reaches the people for whom the news is most relevant because they identify precisely the type of recipients best fit for each press release.

Innovative Solutions: Through constant innovation, PRWireNow stays ahead in the world of media. The company puts the distribution of clients' press releases at the cutting edge, taking extra care that the messages enclosed are of a high degree of efficacy and reach. Being at the cutting edge of technology, as displayed by PRWireNow, guarantees its clients have the best tools at their disposal for all their communication needs.

They have a dedicated support team to make the whole process on the client side as seamless as possible and, as effective. From ensuring that questions are answered to needs being met, PRWireNow has an incredibly helpful support team more than willing to hold the client's hand and walk them through the whole process.

Partner with PRWireNow: Make your brand shine with PRWireNow. We are a premium press release distribution service provider that can actualize the maximum potential of the business through our services. So, be in touch to explore the services that we offer and how will we be able to facilitate the business to achieve communication objectives efficiently. Logically, PRWireNow will be the perfect partner in this journey of making your business more visible and reachable, considering its unrivalled knowledge of press release distributions and innovative technologies backed by a complete support structure.

Conclusion:

The ValueZone altcoin bull run, which itself speaks volumes for strategic positioning, is underlined further by the efficiency with which it conducts and manages its business enterprise in the sub-sector of cryptocurrencies. As advanced technologies and strategic partnerships that ValueZone is involved in reflect in records it continues to set in trading volumes and user engagement. Hence, the collaboration with PRWireNow will be all the more crucial to enhance their market presence and market credibility for ValueZone. More with innovation and growth, ValueZone remains absolutely committed to making available a great trade experience to its users.

What PRWireNow played in this success story just goes to prove how effective press release distribution is in reaching the market and getting the ear of the desired customers. We have a wide network; of targeted distributions, innovative solutions and comprehensive support for ensuring our clients' stories reach the ears targeted. PRWireNow is the preferred partner for businesses seeking to grow their market presence and deliver effective communication goals.

[mamahood746]

Mamahood helps families stay healthy and productive during fertility and family building, leading to reduced absenteeism and increased productivity for your company.Click on the link below to know more https://mamahood.app.

[health-investment]

4 Benefits of Group Health Insurance

When you get employer-sponsored healthcare through your job, you're likely signing up for group insurance. These plans provide coverage to several members of an organization. Typically, 70 percent of a company's workforce must participate for the group plan to remain valid.

Fortunately, getting 70 percent of employees to opt-in isn't a problem for most organizations. Around 50 percent of all Americans are part of a group health insurance plan. When you look at the benefits this type of insurance provides, it's not hard to see why.

Lower Premiums

The biggest perk of having group insurance is that you can enjoy lower premiums. Health insurance is one of the most significant employer perks available. With healthcare costs increasing, many people turn to employer-sponsored plans to reduce costs.

Typically, beneficiaries split premium costs with employers. Companies offering group insurance plans get favorable tax benefits, incentivizing them to provide great plan options. Therefore, the arrangement is mutually beneficial, making healthcare coverage far more affordable for employees than individual plans.

Extended Coverage for Family

Group insurance doesn't just apply to the employee. Many plans provide the option to extend coverage to dependents. That means employees and their entire families get affordable healthcare coverage.

Broader Networks

One lesser-known benefit of group insurance is broader coverage. When you get individual insurance, you may have a small network of providers to choose from when getting medical care. That's not the case with group plans.

The networks are large, giving you more options and possibly providing coverage when traveling to other states.

Reduced Overall Costs

We already know that group insurance results in lower premiums. However, it doesn't stop there. The entire insurance package tends to be more affordable when it applies to a larger group of individuals versus one person.

From an insurer's perspective, group plans are better for risk management. The risks spread across a pool of insured employees. Insurance companies know more about who they're covering, making assessing risk and controlling costs easier. The result is more affordable coverage without sacrificing network size or quality of benefits.

Read a similar article about HDHP here at this page.

[ms-demeanor]

if we're like, showing graphs and stuff, this is the type that i think a lot of people on tumblr are thinking of when they think about the economy.

Only one third of people with family incomes below $50k spent less than their income each month. I would guess that a lot of people on tumblr who get aggro about this topic (and the vast majority of people on r/povertyfinance, who discuss this sort of thing a lot) fall into this earning category.

Real wage increases only matter if you got a raise (one third of workers got a raise last year, which means that 2/3rds didn't - included in the economic wellbeing report linked above). Whether or not rent is outpacing wages only matters if you're not going to be rent burdened (more than a third of renter households are cost burdened in every state and 12 million rental households spend more than half their income on rent). Employment rates lose a lot of meaning when you're working multiple jobs to make ends meet (the percentage of multiply employed workers was falling in the US from 1996 to the 2010s, when it plateaued, then it started rising slightly then collapsed in 2020 and has been rising steeply since then and it's too soon to tell if it's going to go back to the plateau or keep going up).

Four in ten adults in the US is carrying some level of medical debt (even people who are insured) and 60% of people with medical debt have cut back on food, clothes or household items; about 50% of people with medical debt have used up all their savings.

Tumblr is the broke people website and yeah, people who are working two jobs to afford $900 for one room and utilities in a three bedroom apartment are not going to feel great about the economy even if real wages are raising and inflation-adjusted rents are actually pretty stable. "The Rent is too Damn High" has been a meme for 14 years so, like, yeah. Even if it's pretty stable when adjusted for inflation it is stable and HIGH.

It's hard to feel good about the economy when you're spending the last few days of the pay period hoping nothing unexpected hits your account, and it's VERY frustrating to be told that the economy's doing well when you've had to start selling blood to buy groceries.

Sure, unemployment is low, that's neat. It's good that inflation has stabilized (it genuinely has; prices are not likely to fall back to pre-inflation rates and eventually you'll likely be paid enough to reach equilibrium, but a lot of people aren't there yet).

But, like, it costs eight thousand dollars a year out of pocket to keep my spouse alive. I'd guess that we've paid off about a third of the 40-ish thousands of dollars he's racked up since his heart attack. His medical debt is why I don't have a retirement plan beyond "I guess I'll die?" So talking about how good the economy is kind of feels like being chained in the bottom of a pit that is slowly filling with water while people on the surface talk about the fact that the rain is tapering off. Neat! That's good! But I can't really see it from where I'm standing.

Inflation really is getting better. My state just enacted a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers. The Biden administration has worked hard to reduce many kinds of healthcare costs. A lot of people have had significant portions of their student debt cancelled.

But a lot of people are still having trouble affording groceries and it doesn't seem helpful to say "your perception of the economy is decoupled from the reality of the economy" on the "can I get a few dollars for food today?" website.

[politijohn]

Years and years of politicians celebrating that they reduced inflation by X%, boosted the economy, added some number of new jobs, etc etc.

Anyway, homes and rent are unaffordable, wages are stagnant, healthcare costs are rising, grocery bills have ballooned since 2021, student debt and college costs continue to rise.

I don’t care about the first list when nothing is actually affordable even after working multiple jobs. The first politician to address the real issues will be the most popular elected official in decades.

Don’t take my word for it, ask the majority of American, particularly younger generations, who continue to be f*cked over!

[novalizinpeace]

Okay, i had this analysis in my notes for a loooooooooooong time, and idk if anyone had take a look in this aspect of Poppy Playtime/the Biggers Bodies Initiative, but is something that REALLY make me raise a eyebrow when working in the VHS for the critters.

So, let's talk about the confuse and inexplicable choices in Play.Co while creating the BBI

First of all, let leave it clear WHY they started this project.

Everywhere it said that they start it for two reasons: The first one, Ludwig's wish to revive her daughter/relative (something that worked i guess, since we have Poppy), and second reason, the one that the company care most, to reduce cost in employees with creatures that would take orders without asking questions (yay, no healthcare for the experiments!), since Play.Co was having a huge financial crisis at said moment (Again, due Ludwig draining all the money into the poppy investigations and the creation of playcare).

Okay, till then everything's right, the project started and the prototype and Poppy were created, for this analysis, let said the prototype is just like a humanoid/android amalgam, something they created to see if it was possible to bring someone to life, so they didn't care a lot about looks. Okay, good...

Then we got Boxy Boo

WHY IN THE LIVING HELLSITE WOULD YOU GIVE HIM TEETH AND CLAWS?!?!

''Oh his cartoon counterpart have it'' No, Cartoon Boxy had ONE little pointy tooth, and tiny claws, nothing this extreme.

''His purpose was to dispose any lower-ended employees aware about the Initiative.'' okay, right, first of all, gross, second of all, what they would do with him once there's no employees? 'Cause the plan was to not have more humans working in the factory at some point, this is basically the equivalent of adopting a lion to stop a mouse infestation, wasn't more easy to force everybody to give their resignation letter? Oh right, don't wanna loose those last paycheck, i see...

Okay well, such mistake with this fella, let see the next succesfull experiment-

WHY????

''His purpose was to function as part of the factory's security.'' No, no no no don't try to give me this bullshit, theres no need for the teeth, Huggy as a 8ft tall walking anomaly is enough to make any thief or tresspasser shit their pants if they saw him, the double set of pointy teeth in that big mouth of his is highly unnecessary, where they even got the teeth?!? Nor Children or human have teeth like that!!

Well, with this clear at least we can make a kind of timeline with the rest of the experiments before Catnap, 'cause we can see theres a change between teeth experiments and no teeth experiments like catnap or Mommy, maybe they learned that giving such weapon to the creatures they're trying to control isn't the most bright idea...

But still, said leasson didn't prevent them from creating the mini huggies, that remember, ARE ALSO REALLY AGRESSIVE!

And see, they weren't create for security like Huggy, no, this one were created TO PLAY WITH THE CHILDREN, but they basically break your neck if they catch you, and also, maybe is not the biggest part of them, but they have little pointy teeth too, again, why?

I can keep going: Why created a Pug-a-Pillar so big? Maybe something half the size would be good for children and less dangerous. Why give Bunzo pointy teeth if they're just a music player for a game? Why make Catnap so big if probably a half a size creature would make the same work with the red smoke? Why let Mommy so much mobility aroung the factory? She's not just the biggest experiment so far, but she also is able to free herself in any case thanks to the material she's make of, don't mention the fact that everybody knew she was hostile with adults, what, praying that there was always a child present to keep her grounded was their best idea?

Where i'm going with all of this? Well, Basically, Play.Co was doomed till the beginning with this iniciative, 'cause instead of created more physically controlled creatures or make better security systems, they basically created killing machines with plush textures to feed the sadistic mind of a mad scientist and fill the pockets of the shithead behind the administrative part of the factory, and instead of take all the security step you should take when dealing with dangerous creatures,they just treat them like emotionless toy without batteries that they could boss around without problem, and then Poppy react all shocked while retelling it.

Endint this, i hope all of the corporative and administrative members where in the factory during the hour of joy, 'cause they fucking deserved it.

[phoenixyfriend]

Time for some tracts:

"How do we create jobs?" You raise the minimum wage, because if people don't need to work three jobs to make rent, those other two jobs will mysteriously open up.

"How do we support small businesses?" You raise the minimum wage, staggered to the biggest corporations first.

"How do we reduce homelessness?" You raise the minimum wage.

"How do we make sure raising the minimum wage doesn't negatively impact prices or--?"

Prices are already rising faster than wages are, this is playing catch up.

Put a cap on CEO salaries and bonuses, they can't earn more than 100 times more than their lowest paid workers. Current US ratio is 342, which is insane. (This list is mostly about the US.)

Hit corporations first, give small businesses time to adjust. McDonald's and Walmart can afford to raise wages to $20/hr before anyone else does, they have that income.

Drop the weekly hours required for insurance from thirty to fifteen. This will disincentivize employers having everyone work 29hrs a week, partly because working only 14hrs a week is a great way to have undertrained, underpracticed staff. Full time employment becomes the new rule.

Legalize salary transparency for all positions; NYC's new law is a good start.

Legislation that prevents companies from selling at American prices while paying American wages abroad. Did you know that McDonald's costs as much or more in Serbia, where the minimum wage is about $2/hr? Did you know that a lot of foreign products, like makeup, are a solid 20% more expensive? Did you know that Starbucks prices are equivalent? Did you know that these companies charge American prices while paying their employees local wages? At a more extreme example, luxury goods made in sweatshops are something we all know are a problem, from Apple iPhones to Forever 21 blouses, often involving child labor too. So a requirement to match the cost-to-wage ratio (either drop your prices or raise your wages when producing or selling abroad) would be great.

Not directly a minimum wage thing but still important:

Enact fees and caps on rent and housing. A good plan would probably be to have it in direct ratio to mortgage (or estimated building value, if it's already paid off), property tax, and estimated fees. This isn't going to work everywhere, since housing prices themselves are insanely high, but hey--people will be able to afford those difficult rent costs if they're earning more.

Trustbusting monopolies and megacorps like Amazon, Disney, Walmart, Google, Verizon, etc.

Tax the rich. I know this is incredibly basic but tax the fucking rich, please.

Fund the IRS to full power again. They are a skeleton crew that cannot audit the megarich due to lack of manpower, and that's where most of the taxes are being evaded.

Universal healthcare. This is so basic but oh my god we need universal healthcare. You can still have private practitioners and individual insurance! But a national healthcare system means people aren't going to die for a weird mole.

More government-funded college grants. One of the great issues in the US is the lack of healthcare workers. This has many elements, and while burnout is a big one, the massive financial costs of medical school and training are a major barrier to entry. While there are many industries where this is true, the medical field is one of the most impacted, and one of the most necessary to the success of a society. Lowering those financial barriers can only help the healthcare crisis by providing more medical professionals who are less prone to burnout because they don't need to work as many hours.

And even if those grants aren't total, guess what! That higher minimum wage we were talking about is a great way to ensure students have less debt coming out the other side if they're working their way through college.

------------------

Linda P requested something either really interesting or really silly and this is... definitely more of a tract on a topic of interest (the minimum wage and other ways business and government are both being impeded by corporate greed) than on a topic of Silly. Hope it's still good!

[demilypyro]

Imagining a superhero who ignores every day petty criminals because she wants to focus on The Stuff That Matters (fighting climate change, reducing healthcare costs, saving children from abusive families, beating up billionaires)

[the-greatest-fool]

I basically only post and read posts in my bubble aside from occasionally scrolling through Real Tumblr, but people’s takes about US politics on this website are fucking unbelievable. They talk about our government as if it didn’t save us from a pandemic-induced financial collapse, pump trillions of dollars into public works, not to mention substantially invest and rein in pharmaceuticals, and is instead some sort of ultra-neoliberal-corporate kitty shooting machine.

Like let’s be for real. Do they…know what the government does? How it works? Do you know what a conservative is? Do you know what an authoritarian is?

Because a system of government whose citizens are all lucky it has had continuous peaceful transfer of power for centuries could very well have its greatest norm violated—that those who reject its legitimacy must be rejected—and we don’t blink an eye.

Because the first major investment against climate change, coupled with life saving investments into healthcare, cancer research, and drug costs could be shredded by indiscriminate fiscal conservatives who don’t care if we die in forest fires, cancer from pollution, lose insurance because we’re jobless, or, apparently, all die in a fricking plague.

Because a foreign policy establishment that had finally reversed two decades of foreign intervention in favor of a normalization strategy aimed at reducing American foot presence, drone strikes, and indiscriminate killings is about to be replaced by the whims of a man who dropped the “mother of all bombs” on the Middle East, gave American soldiers up to Russian bounty hunters, extorted a foreign leader for political favors and arguably indirectedly resulted in that country being BRUTALLY INVADED BY AN IMPERIAL NEIGHBOR, is in the pockets of CCP-funded billionaires, and WANTS TO “FINISH THE JOB” IN GAZA.

Because a President who is against family separations and promotes a path for DREAMERs and more legal immigration and rights for unodcumented people could be replaced by a man who wants to separate families, PUT UNDOCUMENTED PEOPLE IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS, RESTRICT EVEN LEGAL IMMIGRATION, ESPECIALLY THAT OF MUSLIMS, AND SHOOT MIGRANTS.

Because a President who stopped a repeat of the Great Recession and the painful decade that followed it with strong fiscal stimulus which CUT CHILD POVERTY IN HALF BEFORE CONSERVATIVES MADE IT EXPIRE, then managed to cut deficits and presided over a decline in inflation, resulting in record high real wages (aka taking into account inflation) for workers is going to be replaced by a President who wants to TARIFF ALL FOREIGN GOODS by 15%, CUT TAXES FOR THE FILTHY RICH AND THE TAX ENFORCEMENT TO STOP THEM, INCREASE CHILD POVERTY AND UNINSUREDNESS by cutting gov’t programs, and HURT UNIONS which by every measure will lead to lower wages, higher prices, and more poverty and starvation.

Because a President who has pledged to sign a bill codifying Roe v. Wade (which has yet to be possible in recent memory, whatever these kids say), who enshrined the right to marry someone of the same sex or different race, who supports the Equality Act which would enshrine LGBTQ protections into the law, could be replaced by THE MAN WHO REMOVED AMERICA’S RIGHT TO ABORTION, whose Christian nationalist supporters want to END SEXUAL FREEDOM as we know it including TARGETING IVF AND BIRTH CONTROL, who wants to reverse LGBTQ discrimination law in favor of Christian bigots who hate queer and trans people, and who demonizes that community to win political support.

Ask yourself if you really think there’s no difference between the two. Ask yourself if a reasonable person given these facts would choose the latter. Ask yourself why you see so much propagandizing against the reasonable choice. Ask yourself why so many people seem to have opinions on this when they “don’t even go here”.

Maybe I’m just preaching to the choir here. Maybe people who say this inane stuff wouldn’t vote anyways. Maybe somehow we’re screwed anyways. Maybe people will stupidly vote third party and we’re fucked. Maybe this will get me attacked.

I don’t care anymore. If I have to see one more fucking post acting like we live under the fucking Evil Empire while a SELF PROCLAIMED DICTATOR is about to end the best streak of decent governance I’ve ever seen in a while, I just can’t anymore.

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

Welcome back to tumblr! In the post on Friday that linked to your interview about Awesome Coffee, you said that k-cups are coming soon. If you don’t mind me asking, what was the reasoning behind adding k-cups to the product lineup? Everything else seems environmentally friendly so I found it odd, so now I’m curious.

This is a great question. I don't know how to make my answer any shorter than this.

K-Cups ARE bad for the environment--not only because they contain plastic, but also because even thoughtfully farmed coffee has negative impacts on certain ecosystems, which is a very high cost for something that isn't necessity for human existence.

Anything that is a luxury for humans, from chocolate to books, has costs that are paid by the Earth and its inhabitants in exchange for things we don't actually need. Luxuries costs carbon. They cost land. They cost biodiversity. They may also, even if unintentionally, perpetuate and empower unjust systems of resource distribution. I think being aware of these costs is essential.

Luxuries also have benefits, of course. I am a big fan of books and chocolate (and coffee); they bring me joy. Coffee, at least when collectives are well-organized are paid directly, is also good for coffee farmers and the communities where they work.

The Awesome Coffee Club does not seek to eliminate the costs associated with consumption, because I don't believe they can be eliminated by selling coffee. Instead, the ACC seeks to DECREASE existing costs to biodiversity and systems of injustice. We do this by trying to reduce harm. In the case of our coffee beans, this means paying farmers directly and supporting collectives that are actively working to reverse deforestation. In the case of our packaging, this means packaging that keeps our coffee fresh while also being biodegradable. And in the case of our profit, that means investing all of it into healthcare systems in the world's poorest communities.

Unfortunately, around 30% of all coffee consumed in the United States is consumed via K-Cup. Many K-Cup manufacturers have no real interest in their costs to the environment. They may claim to be "recyclable," but this implies that they are commonly recycled, which they aren't. We have waited to make K-Cups because we wanted to understand what would actually reduce environmental harm in the K-Cup market, and we think we've found a K-Cup partner that reduces--but does not eliminate--the harm that comes from K-Cups by producing backyard compostable K-Cups. That is to say, these K-Cups do not need to be shipped to an industrial composting or recycling facility in order to be reused; they will break down in a backyard composting environment.

We think that offices (and it is mostly offices) that currently use K-Cups will serve the world and their workers better by switching to Awesome Coffee Club K-Cups. But to be clear, if you do not use K-Cups to drink coffee, you should not start. And if you do use K-Cups to drink coffee, you should switch to a whole bean or ground solution if it's practical for you to do so. But if you are married to K-Cups, we want to reduce the harm they cause.

[beardedmrbean]

Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) is under fire for comments he made about migrants and their contribution to the Belgian economy.

Featuring as a guest on the podcast 'Talks With Charly', Van Tigchelt was asked about his views on whether it was possible to prevent migrants from entering Belgium, to which he replied: "Of course not. Something like that is impossible, unnecessary and undesirable."

He went on to emphasise the economic role migrants play here. "Who takes care of our care? Who will lay my water pipe? Who cleans my windows at home?"

Podcast host Charly Badibanga then took offence to the insinuation that migrants only contribute to Belgium via low-skilled work, and the Justice Minister quickly sought to nuance his comments. "Sorry for expressing myself incorrectly, but take away migration and our economy will come to a standstill."

He added that figures such as directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and former football players Marouane Fellaini and Vincent Kompany are a testament to the "wealth" that migration has brought to Belgium.

'Stereotypical'

Van Tigchelt's comments demonstrated a "stereotypical" view of work performed by migrants but was not off the mark regarding the economic impact of reduced migration, says Eva Van Belle, a migration and labour expert at VUB.

"It is difficult to predict the impact a migration policy change would have on the economy, but what we do know is that the rate of migration we have today is good for growth," she told The Brussels Times. "There is a positive fiscal effect too, as migrants contribute more to public finances than what they cost. If we stopped migration, this positive effect would disappear."

The perception that a high proportion of migrants work in low-skilled positions is due to the fact that Belgium lacks any clear strategy to attract high-skilled individuals. In addition, a cinched domestic labour market coupled with discrimination faced by people from migrant backgrounds pushes many of them to unskilled positions. Nevertheless, migrants make up significant portions of professional sectors too, such as IT, healthcare and consulting.

Migration is an enormous topic for political parties ahead of federal elections on 9 June. Van Tigchelt's liberal party Open VLD wants to increase controls at EU borders and make family reunification conditions much more stringent. The party calls for more humane conditions for asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application despite overseeing a worsening reception crisis since being in government.