The proposal by the Minister of Health, Mónica García, to eliminate the Muface model has provoked an intense political and social debate. Its plan, focused on the integration of 1.5 million mutualists into regional public health, proposes transformations which affect not only the beneficiaries of the system, but also the autonomous communities, in particular those governed by the People’s Party. Indeed, three of the four most populated regions, Madrid, Andalusia and Valencia, are governed by the popular: The social and economic damage would be considerable.
The Minister of Health, Monique Garciaguaranteed that public health is “finally prepared» to absorb the million and a half Muface employees and who would even benefit from “better” care by being able to have one of its most robust services: Primary Care.
What the minister doesn’t say is that waiting lists across the country are at 848,340 patients and introducing 1.5 million people into the system could stall it. In addition, three of the four most populous communities in Spain are under the control of the PP Therefore, this transfer of mutualists will have a direct impact on their health systems, being a political problem that certain sectors of the government of Pedro Sanchez.
The Minister of Health of the Community of Madrid, Fatima Matutecharged the “lack of coordination and lack of vision» of the central government regarding Muface and warned of the impact that the proposal of the Department of Monique Garcia integrating the mutualist population into public health care would have been done in a national health system (SNS) already under strain.
“We need the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Service to agree, to discuss and because of this lack of coordination and this lack of vision, people are not harmed. Muface Userswho have acceptable and excellent health care and with which they feel comfortable,” Matute emphasized.
The Ministry of Health has proposed the gradual and stratified incorporation of members of the Muface mutual, with the exception of patients in critical situations, for whom a temporary renegotiation is proposed after the extension, according to a report prepared by the department led by Mónica García after being last October, the health coverage of mutual insurance companies for the next two years by the private insurers.
But the fact is that, in the Community of Madrid alone, almost 240,000 additional users will join the health system, which would entail 400 million in direct expenses, to which must be added the indirect expenses that involve the necessary material, human and consumables.
The lack of coordination and foresight of the central executive, led by the Ministries of Civil Service and Health, is undermining Spain’s most valuable asset, the national health system.
He Socialist Party tried to reverse this situation, but the leak of a report from the Ministry of Health itself and in which it gives nine months from next January to put an end to Muface, shows the war that the Minister of Health is fighting with Óscar López and his Ministry of Public Affairs. Function, which was trying to publish these days a new call for tenders with insurers after their refusal on November 5 to continue debating the “rare offer” from the Government.
Ending Muface is not feasible
Fedeca assures that the proposal of the Ministry of Health to end Muface through the incorporation of public mutual societies into the public health system “this is not viable” in economic terms.
In a press release, the federation of professional associations and unions of public employees ensures that the report presented by the ministry led by Monique Garcia It does not take into account that the per capita cost of Muface is lower than that of the national health system, so the plan would not be feasible, in addition to “not being reasonable”.
For this reason, Fedeca rejected the Health proposal and accused the government of wanting to extinguish Muface for “get rid of a problem and deliver it multiplied to the Autonomous Communities“, since they are the ones who are competent in health matters and they are the ones who should face the “avalanche” of beneficiaries, “without margin and without the necessary resources”.
“This project adds to the list of facts that have been published on this subject in recent days, adding uncertainty and confusion to an issue as relevant and delicate as health,” he criticized.
Likewise, the federation insisted that this project would affect not only civil servants, but also citizens as a whole, as it would increase pressure on health careand would also have an impact on civil servants posted abroad and their families.
For all of the above, Fedeca urged the Ministry of Transformation Digital and public service and health to use the nine months they propose to extend the current agreement to negotiate with insurers an economic offer “reasonable and superior” to that initially proposed to guarantee the continuity of the model.
