“They are obliged to understand each other.” Nine unions of civil servants, led by UGT and Workers’ Commissions, demonstrated this Wednesday in front of the headquarters of Unespa, the private insurers’ association, to demand an “urgent solution” to the crisis opened by Muface, the mutual society through the which public officials can opt for private healthcare. This afternoon, the union organizations will redouble their protests with concentrations in front of the doors of the entity’s headquarters, in Madrid, as in the provincial capitals.
In this morning’s protest, which according to UGT was attended by “hundreds of people”, the unions have demanded an agreement between the Government and the insurers, “for social responsibility and with the group of mutualists, who must be guaranteed a quality healthcare provision,” indicated the head of the UGT Education Sector, Maribel Loranca.
Despite this “quality healthcare provision”, referred to the private sector, the union itself points out that “the new generations of civil servants, who are less expensive in terms of care, are mostly opting for the public system.” In fact, in 2022, two out of every three new public workers chose public health. Something that sources from the Ministry of Public Function attribute to a higher average age of entry into the civil service, which means that they already know everyone’s health. This change in trend has meant that, despite the majority of officials choosing the private sector, the percentage has fallen 12 points in just a decade.
The general secretary of the CCOO Education Federation, Francisco García, has indicated that, after the signing of the new agreement on which the Government is already working, “it will be essential to open a space for reflection to guarantee the future of health care for female civil servants. and public officials, who cannot be subjected to this uncertainty every two or three years.” Precisely, the Executive has proposed, in parallel to the new tender, a “reflection on the model”, with changes among which officials are considering choosing whether to provide for public health or private insurance forever, instead of doing so every month. January, as is currently the case.
This Tuesday, Muface published the final report of the preliminary market consultation that it had posed to insurers, so that they could justify a hypothetical increase in premiums, after rejecting the first agreement, with a cumulative increase of 17% in two years, although concentrated mainly in 2025. “It would have been desirable to obtain more information on the costs that justify the increase in the premium by the operators,” considers the mutual society, which evaluates “favorably” the proposal for an “increase in premiums.” by age.” “It seems to be more in line with current reality,” he considers.
While waiting for the influx of the call this afternoon, the unions have released a joint statement in which they demand that “a stable, reasonable and satisfactory agreement be finalized as soon as possible, which guarantees the health care and quality of public employees.” , in which the medical services offered are not diminished, but, on the contrary, their benefits improve.” “We understand that it should be done before the end of the year. We once again demand effort from the Government, but also from the health companies,” said Loranca, who prefers that this agreement be “better than three years than two.” Minister Óscar López confirmed this Tuesday, after the Council of Ministers, that the tender would be ready within that period.
Apart from these demands, the Independent Trade Union and Civil Servants Central (CSIF) has called for its own demonstration, next Saturday in Madrid. In addition, this organization presented a letter to the Ombudsman on Monday in which it reflects “a multitude of complaints” from officials who, they say, have had their appointments delayed, suspended or canceled by insurers due to the situation of uncertainty. Some complaints that this Wednesday have been registered in Congress so that “political parties take note and propose initiatives in defense of Muface.”
The Secretary of Union Action of CSIF, Francisco Lamas, has warned at the doors of Congress that the union “is not going to stop until a response and a solution is given to this conflict that could have been avoided.”
#civil #servants #unions #demand #employers #private #insurers #agreement #Government #Muface
