Paraguay
IPS Insured Reject a Unified Health Front with the Ministry
The IPS Insured Association questioned the proposal to move toward coordination with the Ministry of Public Health. It said the initiative is being presented without specifics and warned about its possible institutional and budgetary effects.
The Association of Insured Members of the Social Security Institute expressed its rejection of the Government’s intention to move toward a unified health front between the IPS and the Ministry of Public Health, according to La Nación Paraguay.
In a statement, the organization said this is not the first time an alliance between both institutions has been proposed to coordinate actions in health care, and questioned that the proposal is once again being presented, in its view, without clear details about its scope or about the institutional relationship the two agencies would have.
The association also expressed concern over the crisis affecting both the IPS and Public Health, with problems such as medicine shortages, lack of supplies and a shortage of medical professionals.
It also said the situation will not be resolved unless the financial and budgetary problem is addressed, and called for a new approach to public health along with a frontal fight against corruption.
According to the position released, the IPS and the Ministry of Public Health have different natures: the former is a social security entity financed by workers’ contributions, while the latter is the state ministry responsible for guaranteeing public health. In that context, it warned that improper use of the budgets could violate both the IPS Organic Charter and the Constitution.
The association also recalled that the Ministry of Health maintains a debt with the IPS for medical services provided during the pandemic and called on the State to pay it and include that obligation in the General Budget of the Nation. At the same time, it stated that the institute has no pending services with Public Health for medical care or for medicines for its insured members.
At the close of the statement, the organization rejected that direction and urged the Government to take structural measures to provide a lasting solution to the public health crisis, with respect for the institutional limits of the IPS and the Ministry.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
