Santo Domingo, DR. – The delay in the authorization of medicines through the National Health Insurance (Senasa) would be linked to the requests exceeding the waiting time limit in the Administration Administrator’s system. Health Risks (ARS), which forces the process to be restarted.
In recent weeks, members have reported delays when purchasing medications at pharmacies, where, according to testimonies, they must wait up to one to two hours to obtain a response. In many cases, the request is declined by expiration of time approval and must be processed again. Other users indicate that certain medications are no longer listed as covered or that only one of those prescribed is authorized, unlike on previous occasions.
During a tour taken by The Day In different pharmacies in Greater Santo Domingo, employees explained that the system operates normally between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. However, after that time, failures begin to occur that slow down approvals.
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“I have faith that they will decline it”commented one of the interviewees in a pharmacy after making a request that had been in progress for more than 57 minutes and had not received any response to date. He indicated that, due to his experience working in the area, it was very likely that they would decline it, since the waiting time expires and the process must be done again from scratch.
He added that he recommends that people who live or work near the pharmacy leave their documentation so that the establishment can manage the approval of the medications, due to the notable delay that currently exists.
Nelson de Leon, resident of the Cristo Rey sector, told El Día, after being consulted outside a pharmacy, that currently Senasa insurance only has coverage for the minimum of medications and that the most important or higher value ones are not being covered. “You have to have a waiting time because you have to take photos of the license and the doctor’s instructions,” said De León, assuring that the service is being offered, but with less agility than before.
Another experience was that of Yamilet Mercedeswho stated that after attending an emergency at a medical center, it rejected him from the National Health Service insurance due to the problems he currently presents, as explained to him.
“They told me that the emergency does not cover me because of what is happening in Senasa, just that and I had to pay 1,400 pesos,” said the young woman outside the Senasa service center located in a shopping plaza in Santo Domingo.
However, other citizens consulted on the street said they had no problems when purchasing medicines or accessing medical services.
Lateness is due to time
Given these complaints, the general administrator of the National Health Insurance (SENASA), Edward Rafael Guzmán Padillastated in recent days that the institution operates completely normally and that the drug authorization processes have not stopped at any time, although he acknowledged that some procedures have experienced temporary delays.
In addition, he added in the Uno + Uno program, that these delays are due to the implementation of stricter controls to validate prescriptions and guarantee that members receive the medications correctly.
