The opposition this Wednesday criticized delays in accessing medical commissions, in a debate in which the PSD accused the government of incompetence and indifference, with the executive acknowledging the problem, but only in “certain parts” of the country.
In the urgency debate requested by the PSD on the theme “Failure of the welfare state: delays in holding medical meetings prevent citizens from accessing support and social benefits”, Deputy Clara Marques Mendes warned of the “screeching consequences” that delays have on citizens’ access to “various social support and benefits to which they are legitimately entitled”.
The deputy believed that “this situation is humanly unacceptable and socially unacceptable” and accused the government of “lacking political will” to resolve the situation.
The deputy chairman of the bank defended that “the government must act” and highlighted the initiative presented by the PSD for “the retroactive payment of aid” whenever the “medical meeting is not conducted within the time limits set by law” .
The Secretary of State for Health Promotion acknowledged on behalf of the government that there are delays in scheduling medical appointments, but stated that this is only happening “in certain parts of the country”.
According to Margarida Tavares, the government is working “in an organized way to solve the persisting problems”, namely by issuing the certificate electronically, which did not have the expected approval, and by making a “substantial change of the model”, in order to speed up and be more transparent.
“In 2022 alone, 86,944 medical meetings were held, more than 100,000 multi-purpose certificates were issued. About 25,000 medical meetings were held in the first quarter of 2023 alone,” the secretary of state said, adding that about 6,000 more are planned.
The Secretary of State for Inclusion acknowledged that “there is indeed a problem” with medical certificates of multi-functional disability, but stressed that this delay in terms of social benefits only impacts the attribution of Social Benefit for Inclusion (PSI).
Ana Sofia Antunes said there are 137,500 PSI beneficiaries as of today, compared to 124,000 in April last year, representing an increase of nearly 11%.
He left a guarantee that the problem will be solved “so that those who ask can ask and get it right away.”
The parties opposed the government and spoke of waiting times that could exceed two years to access a medical commission, saying this is an “unacceptable situation”.
Chega’s leader, André Ventura, accused the government of “filling the treasury at the expense of the health of the Portuguese”, since without a medical certificate of multifunctional disability they would not receive the “social benefits and tax benefits” to which they are entitled.
For IL, Deputy Joana Cordeiro pointed out that the PS “has been in government for almost eight years and has still not been able to find time to regulate much of the social and fiscal support these people are entitled to” and criticized a “cruel attitude against the most vulnerable, which is “truly intentional”.
The deputy also accused the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security of “shaking the water out of the pack and placing the responsibilities on the Ministry of Health, which in turn has failed to make medical councils flexible and accessible to make”.
“All the PS knows is to find excuses for ineffectiveness,” charged the BE coordinator, as “at any moment of waiting, the most vulnerable remain without basic support and the government sparkles with deficit”.
Catarina Martins stated that the Bloco has “three simple demands”, including “autonomization of the medical councils so that processes are expeditious where possible”, pay “what is due, what is not yet paid and already due must be paid, and comply with the law”.
The PCP believed that in order to resolve this “inadmissible situation that continues and worsens, to the detriment of users”, it is not necessary to “discover gunpowder”.
“The diagnosis has been made, what is still missing are the measures. The medical councils must become operational once and for all, but until they are ready, at least the validity of the multifunctional certificates is guaranteed,” defended deputy Alma Rivera .
The PS accused the PSD of “political tactics” for planning this debate when parliament “is in a phase of work in the specialty, with important hearings to be held”.
PAN also accused the government of “lack of political will to solve this problem”, while Livre asked “when will the results of the working group be announced”, approved under the state budget, at its suggestion, to improve the circumstances review that allow the waiver of a medical board.
Source: DN
