It's a shock to therapy. The government officially put an end to universal free healthcare that had been offered through a National Healthcare System (SNS following the Spanish acronym) that was, in the words of Spain's Minister of Health, Ana Mato, unsustainable. Healthcare users, including pensioners, will have to pay not only for their prescription drugs, but also for orthopedic prosthesis, diet products and non-urgent healthcare transport.
The Real Decreto-Ley 16/2012, published yesterday in the Official State Gazette (BOE following the Spanish acronym), goes farther than the measures advanced by the Ministry last year and imposes a change to laws that will make the current healthcare system less public, universal and free.
The goal is to save 7 billion euros, equivalent to 10% of public spending on healthcare. And to do that, healthcare users will be forced to pay for some portion of prostheses and mobility aids such as crutches, wheelchairs or splints; dietary supplements; and even non-urgent medical transport, which could create a significant struggle for some patients. Providing an ambulance for someone to go to therapy every day costs around 50 euros per day. The pharmaceutical sector will be hit hardest, because it is bearing the burden of half the cutbacks.
The government has not given up on the idea of getting quick savings through cuts to prescription drug prices and, as in several laws that it has put into effect since 2010, is imposing lower prices through a new selective pricing strategy for widely-consumed prescription drugs with expired patents.
