Jujuy: they presented an amparo to reverse mandatory insurance for care in public hospitals

The sanction in the Jujuy Legislature of the official project to create the Provincial Health Insurance (SEPROSA), which will be mandatory to have care in public hospitals, generated more rejections in recent days from different sectorswhile the national senator from Jujuy Carolina Moisés (UP) presented an appeal for protection and formally requested the governor Carlos Sadir the veto of Law 6,453.

For the Jujuy section of the Association of Doctors of the Argentine Republic (AMRA), it is legislation that “privatizes the health system”; while the general secretary of the Association of University Professionals of Public Administration (APUAP), Nicolas Fernandezindicated that “SEPROSA is unconstitutional.”

The approved rule states that to access the benefits of the Mandatory Medical Plan, still free, you must pay the equivalent “to the lowest current value of five (5) medical consultations” from the nomenclator of the Jujuy Insurance Institute. Whoever pays it, around $50,000 per month, will receive a “Digital Credential” with which they can “enjoy medical care benefits.” The only ones who will be excepted will be those who complete the procedure and prove that their income does not exceed two minimum wages, that is, whose income does not reach $543,142.

Senator Moisés presented the appeal for protection with the sponsorship of the lawyers Arnaldo Plaza and Laureano Viltewhich requests the immediate suspension of the application of this law and its declaration of unconstitutionality. The arguments highlight that SEPROSA contradicts constitutional principles and international treaties that guarantee unrestricted access to public health. And he highlighted the devastating impact that this measure would have in a critical social and economic context. According to INDEC data, the 55.7% of Jujeños live below the poverty line and 45.1% face informal employment. “Health is not a privilege, it is a right. This law places economic barriers that condemn thousands of Jujeños to uncertainty and health abandonment. We cannot allow access to health to depend on how much you have in your pocket,” he expressed. Moses, in dialogue with Scope.

In another way, the senator made a request to the Governor Sadir to veto the approved norm, justifying its requirement that it “directly attacks the human right to health, guaranteed by the National Constitution and International Treaties with constitutional hierarchy.” “It is the obligation of the provincial State to guarantee to all the inhabitants of Jujuy the provision of the Public Health Service without restrictions, distinctions, discrimination, without the imposition of any insurance payment or any other form of monetary contribution; as well as without the need for prove not having sufficient resources or a certain amount of income to pay for the aforementioned service,” he concluded.

Two-day strike

Meanwhile, the Jujuy section of The Association of Doctors of the Argentine Republic (AMRA), which brings together health professionals from the state and private sectors at the national level, announced a 48-hour strike in hospitals in Jujuy territory for this Thursday the 26th and Friday the 27th.. The union warned that the sanctioned rule implies a “privatization of the health system.” “The Legislature of Jujuy imposes a mandatory charge on those who do not have social work and need to be treated in a public hospital. This implies a tariff for health and the end of free care, affecting more than 280,000 Jujeños, half of the economically active population of the province,” they expressed in a statement from the union organization.

The union that leads at the provincial level Ruben Camaño reported that SEPROSA was approved without formal treatment in the Health Commission, it was not announced by any public media, it did not have a transparent or participatory debate. “Official legislators say that its purpose is to strengthen the health system, although in reality the SEPROSA funds will be administered by the Jujuy Insurance Institute, which is on the verge of bankruptcy with a debt estimated at $52,000 million and whose income was always used on a discretionary basis,” he denounced.

Also from the Association of University Professionals of Public Administration (APUAP) They questioned the creation of SEPROSA, which they described as “unconstitutional.” “In fact, Jujuy is the first province to privatize the public health system and this is very serious because it destroys a fundamental human right, such as access to timely and quality health, which is one of the pillars of the Argentine society,” said union leader Nicolás Fernández, whose organization protested at the doors of the Legislature to denounce its opposition to the law. “This system is unconstitutional because the National Constitution establishes the free health and educational systems, and Jujuy is not a separatist province,” he added.