2024-04-02 16:00:00
The Ministry of Health announced at the end of January of this year the initiative to finance glasses and contact lenses within Social Security benefits. Specifically, it was its owner, Minister Mónica Garcia, who declared that the objective of this social measure is that “people do not have to reach into their pockets when a benefit is needed.” But be careful, because already in the last legislature, with Carolina Darias at the head of this portfolio, it was proposed to expand the benefits of this system, although in the end the measure did not proliferate.
The truth is, seven out of every ten citizens in Spain, specifically up to 70.6%, use glasses or contact lenses to see well in their daily lives, according to data published in the Vision 2023 White Paper, so it would benefit about 30 million people. However, regarding the date on which this social measure will be implemented, the Government clarifies that it will be carried out “throughout the legislature”, that is, the exact day on which it will be implemented is not yet known. will start these subsidies.
However, it seems that Andalusia is anticipating the proposal of Pedro Sánchez’s Executive and taking the first step to subsidize glasses and contact lenses for minors and adults depending on income. “For some reason, seeing well has been understood as a luxury item, as if it were not a health issue, when having myopia is nothing more than a disease,” details parliamentarian José Ignacio García, of the mixed left-wing group ‘Adelante’. Andalusia’, which also regrets that at this time it can only be addressed “with one hundred percent private treatment and at an enormous cost.”
Free glasses and contact lenses will go through Congress
The Andalusian group has chosen for this proposal a procedure that is not usual but that, through the Statute of Autonomy, allows state laws to be legislated that, after their approval in the Andalusian Parliament on March 21, will go directly to the Congress of Deputies , where they would be defended by a group of representatives of the regional Parliament.
García details that they have chosen this route because there is no Andalusian law that establishes the catalog of services of the Andalusian Health System, but rather it is done by decree, something that an opposition group cannot present. If it goes ahead in the Lower House, it would be the State that would provide the funds to each community for the application of the rule, which Adelante Andalucía estimates at 50 million euros in the community, and 261 million for the entire country.
When would it start operating in Spain?
This Andalusian political force predicts a “long” process, so they anticipate that, if approved, the necessary item can already be included in the General State Budgets (PGE) for next year, that is, as a minimum expected date, it would start from 2025.
In this sense, it is worth mentioning that in some European countries it has been in force for years. This is the case, for example, of France. Enmanuel Macron promoted the ‘100% Santé’ reform, with which you can get free glasses. In addition, the possibility is allowed for those over 16 years of age to renew them for free every two years. Something similar also happens in Germany, whose Government reimburses the cost of glasses for children under 18 years of age and for older people with severe visual impairment.
What do Andalusian opticians think about this measure?
The Official College of Opticians-Optometrists of Andalusia has spoken out against this measure. They argue that its economic impact will be greater than expected and that it will affect the results of these self-employed businesses, as published by the media Autónomos y Emprendedores.
The president of the Official College of Opticians-Optometrists of Andalusia, Blanca Fernández Pino, stated that she had not received any communication from the Government of Spain about this new bonus, which “has taken them by surprise”, according to statements to the same medium. Furthermore, she has considered that “it should be regulated by autonomous communities taking into account the budget of each one.”
In this sense, the president of the Official College of Opticians-Optometrists of Andalusia has also raised her doubts regarding the viability of the proposal, considering it “unrealistic” due to the high cost in public accounts that would entail providing for the entire population, taking into account Note that, in Spain, seven out of ten people need glasses or contact lenses.
The Health plan to include glasses and contact lenses in Social Security
From the Ministry of Health explican a Newtral.es that “at the moment there is no elaborate or concrete plan on the table” to implement the objective of introducing visual health into the common portfolio that Mónica García announced. In fact, they emphasize that “García’s statements are nothing more than axes, objectives and plans that she has in her portfolio to work on throughout the legislature.” Each of the announced points would need to be specified.
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