APSR, whose members include associations of doctors, patients and pharmacists, support the state’s measures to evaluate the public procurement system and check the validity of invoices issued in the healthcare sector, in order to ensure transparency and fairness, says a Thursday press release.
“It would be fair to pay the arrears entirely by the end of 2011, for those bills that are found to be valid, while continuing reforms in the health sector is crucial to prevent the development of new arrears and, therefore, new blockages which restrict the patients’ access to health products and services,” says the cited source.
Failure to pay the bills to pharmacies and suppliers of medical products affect this chain’s balance and render them unable to pay their foreign producers, meaning it becomes impossible to maintain a buffer stock of medicine and health products that can be provided in a timely manner.
This reflects in the worsening access to treatment and medical services, while the number of patients on waiting lists increases every year, says APSR.
“The system’s underfunding severely affects the people’s health and, until a solution is found, it is hospital patients that will have to bear the cost of materials and medicine used in their treatment. Although everyone talks about total transparency, the real expenses of hospitals are not known in real time. The current measures are only temporary ‘patches’ and unpredictable policies make patients, doctors, producers and distributors lose confidence in the Romanian healthcare system,” says the association.
APSR president Cristian Hotoboc says these arrears obstruct the activity of the Romanian firms that distribute medical products and not that of the large international corporations, which have turnovers higher than the GDPs of small states and can cope with overdue payments.
“It is irrational for Romanian firms to be unable to pay their taxes and especially VAT on bills unpaid by the state itself,” says Hotoboc in the press release.
APSR vice-president Ioana Cacovean, cited in the press release, says that any suspect procurement auctions should be investigated, but that does not mean existing debts should be paid later or not at all. “Whenever a problem arises in the healthcare system, the patient is the one bearing the brunt of the damage. Furthermore, the power to prevent abuse is in the Government’s hands and it is the only one responsible for the crisis in today’s healthcare system,” she says.
Romanian President Traian Basescu on Wednesday asked the government to suspend paying arrears for drugs, stating that no money should be paid until the hospital and pharmacy drug purchase systems are regulated.