Health reform agreement to shore up ministry and funding

'I am very satisfied,' says Lorenzin

(ANSA) - Rome, June 26 - The Italian health minister announced Thursday that an agreement dubbed the Health Covenant for public healthcare reform and funding had been finalized with the consensus of regional public health representatives and the Italian economy ministry. "I am very satisfied," said Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin. "It will truly be a decisive step for guaranteeing the sustainability of our health system for the next 15-20 years".

Lorenzin explained that total consensus was reached among all 20 regional public health representatives and the economy ministry "after 15 days of non-stop meetings". She said all that was missing for the agreement to move forward was the approval of Italy's regional governors. "I hope that next week there are no surprises and that this extremely important reform can go through, which reorganizes planning for the next three years and solves a number of problems left open and unresolved in recent years in the national health system".

The agreement gives greater powers to the health ministry, who will become less dependent on economy ministry for taking action. It also foresees that all money saved through reforms and efficiencies introduced will be reinvested in public healthcare, not given over to other national budget considerations. As of Wednesday, agreement appeared imminent to increase the national healthcare budget from 109.9 billion euros in 2014 to 112 billion euros in 2015 and 115.4 billion in 2016.

Lorenzin told the Senate Thursday that 900 million euros over the three years 2014-2016 would be designated to updating basic levels of healthcare, and that the budget allocation would be made by September 30. Co-payments for health treatment will be based on patient income and family size. For low income patients under a certain threshold, public healthcare will cost nothing. Vigilance over pharmaceutical prices for public health will be overseen by an "observatory" of regional representatives.

The pharmaceutical watchdog agency AIFA will delineate categories for homogeneous treatments to prevent regions from creating and following their own separate, divergent criteria. The pact also foresees the reorganization of Italian pharmaceutical agency AIFA, the national health system development agency Agenas and the national health institute ISS. Regional Affairs Minister Maria Concetta Lanzetta said Wednesday she would guarantee that the agreement foresaw regional healthcare budget deficits dealt with through restructuring and efficiency measures rather than straight spending cuts.