03/10/2020 - 15:21
- Clarín.com
- Society
After the announcement made on Tuesday by President Alberto Fernández, this Wednesday the New Vademecum of free essential medicines for PAMI members will enter into force. It is a list, it was announced, designed to cover the appropriate and free treatment of frequent pathologies in people over 60 years.
There are 170 active principles - of 3,600 brands - included in the list based on recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Confederation of Physicians of Argentina, and data from PAMI members themselves, said the entity.
From remedies for Alzheimer's, to those indicated in menopausal complications, those on the list will have 100 percent coverage .
The pathologies indicated as usual for the preparation of the new PAMI vademecum.
The making of a new list - the official name of the program is "Live Better" - had been announced in February.
One of the most outstanding novelties of the initiative is the way in which the prescription of medicines will work: everything will be through electronic prescriptions .
The pathologies indicated as usual for the preparation of the new PAMI vademecum
What changes with the electronic recipe?
To access free essential medicines, prescriptions must be electronic ones. However, during the transition from the old system of free medicines to the current one, the traditional prescriptions issued before the new mechanism will come into force will be valid.
At the same time, the cap of two boxes or containers per month of the same active ingredient will remain in force.
The legend that must appear in the electronic recipe.
From now on, doctors should prescribe by first registering a diagnosis and then the corresponding active ingredients. Medicines that are not included in the New Vademécum PAMI will maintain the current coverage .
How to access the medicine?
The affiliated persons must present themselves directly in the pharmacy with ID, the credential and the electronic prescription, which their doctor will have given them in print .
On its website, PAMI said that "affiliates should update their data to ensure control and transparency in the dispensing of medications. PAMI will call in the next few days to affiliates to carry out this re-registration ."
"This measure also implies an increase in the indirect salary, since according to calculations made by the PAMI, retirees who receive the minimum credit have so far allocated 30% of their income to the purchase of medicines. Unlike what happened in management above, the measure is universal, because no equity restriction applies to any of the members of the PAMI. The only limitation is that the medication is included in the vademecum, " Clarín told PAMI.
Although Eugenio Semino, at the head of the Ombudsman's Office, considers that this measure "is good", he clarifies that drug coverage is not the only thing necessary to solve "the problems of the PAMI system".
"You have to see how it is implemented. In geriatrics it happens that many self-medicate. They arrive taking ten remedies, not just one, it is literal. In addition, doctors are 'taxi-doctors', they leave from one side, they go to another office. they look at the faces of patients. Many seniors know doctors' secretaries more than doctors . Hopefully [the new system] really stops this, "says who is also a gerontologist.
Another point that Semino questions is the relationship between the new vademecum and the income of retirees and pensioners. "It is not real what they say about the 30% increase in their income for not spending on remedies. One thing is the salary, another thing the medicine, but the one who will be benefited is the one who gets sick? This contradicts the principles of gerontology: we work for a healthy old age, "he closes.
LGP