GREATER practical and financial help for parents is on the cards now that a new 'family law' has passed its second reading in the Council of Ministers, with extended maternity and paternity pay, protected time...
Health minister stresses pensioners' prescription charges will not go up, but 'reforms are needed'
19/01/2017
HEALTH minister Dolors Montserrat has stressed the government has 'no plans' to increase prescription payments for pensioners, but that she believes 'those who have the least should pay the least'.
At the request of the opposition, Sra Montserrat (pictured) spoke to the Health and Social Services Commission in the Senate and said she was seeking 'consensus' and a 'State pact' on healthcare.
Her intention is to review prescription charges affecting those in the middle bracket who earn between €18,000 and €100,000 a year, recognising that those who earn the higher amount should be paying a lot more than those on the lower.
Currently, pensioners earning less than €18,000 a year pay 10% on their prescriptions up to a maximum of €8 a month, whilst those in the middle pay 50%, up to €13 a month.
For workers, there is no cap, meaning the 10% and 50% prescription charge applies whatever the cost of the drug.
Montserrat stresses she was 'misinterpreted' or 'did not explain herself properly' when interviewed on a Catalunya radio station, but stresses she is committed to the health service being free and available to all and remaining solvent – a service which, she says, is 'one of the best in the world'.
The minister recalled that prescription contributions were introduced over 50 years ago and, since then, 'all governments of all political ideologies have defended them', but that it is up to the State to ensure the system is as 'sustainable as possible' so as to 'guarantee access to medication at all times'.
But she did not respond to the request by all opposition parties to abolish the 2012 healthcare reform, which denies all bar emergency medical treatment to non-EU foreign citizens without legal residence documents and which introduced prescription payments for pensioners who, previously, had received these free of charge.
Numerous regional health authorities, family doctors and other medical professionals ignored the rule about no treatment for illegal immigrants and continued to help them, citing conscientious objection.
Despite avoiding responding to the query about the 2012 reform, Montserrat urged Senators to 'stop confusing the public'.
“However much some people might find it painful, free healthcare for all was not actually a real thing in Spain until the 2012 reform,” she stresses.
Related Topics
HEALTH minister Dolors Montserrat has stressed the government has 'no plans' to increase prescription payments for pensioners, but that she believes 'those who have the least should pay the least'.
At the request of the opposition, Sra Montserrat (pictured) spoke to the Health and Social Services Commission in the Senate and said she was seeking 'consensus' and a 'State pact' on healthcare.
Her intention is to review prescription charges affecting those in the middle bracket who earn between €18,000 and €100,000 a year, recognising that those who earn the higher amount should be paying a lot more than those on the lower.
Currently, pensioners earning less than €18,000 a year pay 10% on their prescriptions up to a maximum of €8 a month, whilst those in the middle pay 50%, up to €13 a month.
For workers, there is no cap, meaning the 10% and 50% prescription charge applies whatever the cost of the drug.
Montserrat stresses she was 'misinterpreted' or 'did not explain herself properly' when interviewed on a Catalunya radio station, but stresses she is committed to the health service being free and available to all and remaining solvent – a service which, she says, is 'one of the best in the world'.
The minister recalled that prescription contributions were introduced over 50 years ago and, since then, 'all governments of all political ideologies have defended them', but that it is up to the State to ensure the system is as 'sustainable as possible' so as to 'guarantee access to medication at all times'.
But she did not respond to the request by all opposition parties to abolish the 2012 healthcare reform, which denies all bar emergency medical treatment to non-EU foreign citizens without legal residence documents and which introduced prescription payments for pensioners who, previously, had received these free of charge.
Numerous regional health authorities, family doctors and other medical professionals ignored the rule about no treatment for illegal immigrants and continued to help them, citing conscientious objection.
Despite avoiding responding to the query about the 2012 reform, Montserrat urged Senators to 'stop confusing the public'.
“However much some people might find it painful, free healthcare for all was not actually a real thing in Spain until the 2012 reform,” she stresses.
Related Topics
More News & Information
BRITISH media outlets have lauded Spain's Queen Letizia's effortlessly-elegant dress sense over the past few days as she accompanies her husband King Felipe VI to London.
SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
GERMAN supermarket chain Aldi has announced a major expansion plan for Spain in 2024, with its distribution centre in Sagunto (Valencia province) set to open next month and a another one on the cards for the north.