Gestor bibliográfico Crisis y Salud

This May 17th, the Spanish lower house of parliament is expected to pass (1) a law that will radically change Spanish health coverage leaving millions of its most vulnerable people without health insurance (2). By making essential public health measures inaccessible for part of the population, Spain is risking its overall population health and not only for those affected by the new law. In its ongoing austerity actions, the Spanish government issued on April 20th a royal decree law restricting access to the Spanish health system. Undocumented migrants and people over 26 years old who have not been able to enter the labour market will be excluded from receiving public care. The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), Europe’s leading NGO advocating for better health, warns the Spanish government that this measure abandons large sections of the population unable to afford private health insurance. The bill will also introduce co-payment of medicines in relation to the patient’s income (3), which will make it even harder to make ends meet for some pensioners and the unemployed receiving benefits. This will increase health inequalities and force many new people into making an impossible choice between food, medicine and other essentials.