Healthcare, Marino (Unindustria): “We ask the Government for a permanent round table”

“The Meloni government is focusing a lot on healthcare and is putting its face on the line, but if inexplicable measures are carried forward such as the one on service pharmacies, which allow highly esteemed professionals such as pharmacists to do something other than their role in the territory, there is a risk of losing face. We ask the Government for a permanent round table to have concrete answers on this and other issues that put the sustainability of our National Health System at risk”. So Luca Marino, Vice President of the Health Section of Unindustriaon the occasion of the event promoted by UAP – National union of outpatient clinics, polyclinics, institutions and private hospitals in Rome.

“Our national health system, based on a balance between public and private structures, has always been recognized as one of the most efficient at an international level, with an optimal use of resources”, explains Marino. “However – he adds – today we are witnessing a questioning of this balance, just as Parliament is examining the bill on waiting lists and service pharmacies: two measures that have a profound impact on our sector and that can decide the fate of the future of healthcare”.

“More and more people – Marino observes – are giving up on treatment due to difficulty in accessing services and there is a profound lack of homogeneity between the Regions in the provision of Essential Levels of Assistance (Lea), to the detriment of prevention. According to the data emerging from the fourth edition of the Outlook Salute Italia published by Deloitte, private healthcare has performances judged positive by citizens, obtaining a score of 7, against the 6.3 given to public healthcare. However, private facilities, both accredited and non-accredited, despite having been fundamental in reducing waiting lists, remain under-utilized due to budgets that have been blocked for over 10 years. With a minimal economic effort by the Government, the offer of services could be immediately increased, without the need for new regulatory interventions, also because the existing regulations already allow the opening of new accredited private centers that comply with quality and professionalism requirements”.

“The specter of the entry into force of the new nomenclature from 1 January 2025, which last year envisaged reductions of up to 80% for some services, is still alive – underlines the vice president of the Health Section of Unindustria – Despite the Government’s reassurances, there has not yet been a real discussion on the issue and there is a risk of a stalemate with a new impracticable price list for facilities forced not to provide essential services. We therefore ask that the project of the service pharmacies be corrected and that the introduction of the new nomenclature be suspended, instead concentrating energy and resources to update the current price list in a manner consistent with technological evolution and the increase in requests, in order to adequately respond to the health needs of citizens”, he concludes.