The Chamber of Deputies received President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s new initiative to reform the General Health Law. In response, PAN federal representative Éctor Ramírez Barba warned about the impact this proposal would have on the drug shortage.
What is the reform about? According to the proposal, the initiative establishes standards for the Ministry of Health in the consolidated purchase of medications, medical equipment, and other supplies. It also proposes promoting economic development through cooperation between the government and the private sector.
It also promotes the use of digital health, such as telehealth, telemedicine, and electronic records. It regulates medical infrastructure planning with a Master Plan and expands functions for data analysis, as well as the management of medical complaints through the National Medical Arbitration Commission (Conamed).
However, the proposal caused controversy because it proposed eliminating fixed percentages in the distribution of the Health and Wellbeing Fund, which would give the Technical Committee greater freedom to allocate resources. This point sparked criticism from the PAN party.
PAN attacks reform of the General Health Law
In his argument, the secretary of the Health Commission warned that the reform initiative to the General Law constitutes a serious risk to Mexico’s healthcare system.
The PAN member described the initiative as a measure that “seeks to appropriate” the resources of the Health and Wellbeing Fund, in addition to eliminating financial protection against serious illnesses and allowing for discretionary drug purchases.
Ramírez Barba criticized the proposal for “seeking to control” resources allocated to essential treatments and concentrating their administration. He emphasized that the initiative eliminates the requirement to allocate at least 8% of the Fund to high-cost illnesses, such as cancer, HIV, or intensive care for newborns.
He also indicated that the Health Fund, originally created to finance specialized treatments, would now be used to cover operating expenses and maintenance, functions that fall under the regular budget.
The PAN legislator warned that this action could affect the quality and continuity of treatment for patients with serious illnesses, while accusing Morena of having reduced the Fund from 93 billion pesos in 2018 to 32 billion pesos currently.
Similarly, the PAN member questioned whether the proposal to exchange services between public health institutions, included in the presidential initiative, is merely a legal procedure that does not address the inequality in the financing of the health system, as he considered that it “proposes a false solution for universalization.”
Ramírez Barba pointed out that the initiative will put significant financial pressure on the IMSS or state services with perceived quality, as the population will migrate from the low-quality services offered by IMSS-Bienestar.
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In this context, he pointed out that the IMSS is already using workers’ financial reserves to cover the expenses of the IMSS-Coplamar program, which has currently been eliminated due to a lack of allocated resources. He asserted that this demonstrates that the compensation mechanism is insufficient.
The legislator affirmed that proposals such as the “Megapharmacy” and the “Health Routes” are merely media-driven actions that put medications at risk due to their exposure to organized crime and potential malpractice.
For this reason, he explained that the PAN party will present reservations and maintain a position of rejection of the initiative, such as the following:
It will propose that the Health Fund be protected and untouchable, and that a portion of the IEPS resources be allocated to finance high-cost treatments.
It will demand that the ruling be analyzed by the Joint Committees on Health and Social Security, with the opinion of the Budget Committee.
That the debate be held in an Open Parliament format.
Source: infobae
