In the air, the role of Insabi in the plan to transform the health system

Angeles Cruz Martinez

Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, March 17, 2022, p. fifteen

The role that the Institute of Health for Well-being (Insabi) will have in the plan to transform the health system for the population without social security is up in the air. Although it was conceived to be responsible for the provision of medical services, the administration of economic, human and infrastructure resources, the strategy announced last Tuesday, which has the IMSS Welfare program as its pillar, is not yet fully defined, they commented. industry officials.

After two years of delay in complying with the National Health Plan, with which the goal of guaranteeing free medical care and medicines for all people was set, what is now important for the federal government is to speed up the process. Hence the decision to take IMSS Bienestar as a base, which has a well-defined disease prevention and care scheme for rural areas.

However, there are several issues that have not yet been fully defined, among others, if, as the General Health Law says, Insabi will continue to be the administrator of the economic resources or if these will become the responsibility of the program dependent on the Mexican Institute of Health. Social Security (IMSS).

Juan Antonio Ferrer, silent

Last Tuesday, when the new health plan for the population without social security was presented at the National Palace, it was striking that the head of Insabi, Juan Antonio Ferrer, did not speak, despite the responsibility he has, which includes budget transfers to entities, the purchase of drugs and the hiring of personnel.

It has to do, according to the officials consulted, that there are things that will be changing along the way, as the specific field of action that IMSS Welfare and Insabi will have.

The truth is that the so-called transformation model is, in fact, the rethinking of the strategy initially proposed by the federal administration, which contemplated that the state governments would continue to be responsible for the provision of services, although under the administrative guidelines determined from the Insabi and the federalization would have to have a progressive advance.

With the creation of Insabi and its entry into operation, on January 1, 2020, the disappearance of Seguro Popular, a financing scheme for health services that worked for 15 years in the nation and that achieved universal affiliation, was finalized. not access to effective and comprehensive medical care for all Mexicans.

The legal reform gave Insabi the mission of reversing the shortcomings in medical units at all levels of care, especially in health centers and general hospitals located in rural areas, historically lagging behind.

To do this, it would launch the Health Model for Well-being (Sabi), focused on Primary Health Care (PHC) to strengthen the prevention and timely detection of diseases.

The goals are still pending. Among others, provide the free provision of health services, medicines and other supplies necessary for the care of people without social security. Until now, the gratuity only applies in the national health institutes and highly specialized hospitals, although patients still buy their medicines.

The lack of services was aggravated by the necessary hospital conversion that was carried out in the country for the care of covid-19 patients. This led to the suspension of services for other illnesses. The patients did not receive the attention they required and neither did they receive the medications.

Insabi also made no progress in expanding coverage for complex and high-cost diseases, which generate catastrophic expenses for patients and their families. It started with 66 ailments that were already covered by Seguro Popular and to date the number remains unchanged.