The adaptation of the ortho-prosthetic catalog to the new Order of the Ministry of Health has meant a cut that will affect around 200,000 Andalusians. The templates, which until now were covered by the Andalusian Health Service, will no longer be covered in practically 90% of cases.
The new order of the Ministry of Health only contemplates the coverage of orthopedic insoles for very specific cases: diabetic foot, large foot deformities or to correct some sequelae of surgery for a maximum of two years. However, they obviate many other pathologies “which make the patient useless in his daily life and cause many medical casualties, such as plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia, bursitis, spurs, heel pain, etc.”indicates Concepción Rico, president of the Association of Technical Orthopedic Companies of Andalusia (ASOAN), federated in the Spanish Federation of Orthotists and Prosthetists ().
The templates, which until now were covered by the Andalusian Health Service, will no longer be so in practically 90% of the cases
That’s why users and orthopedists They demand that the previous requirements be maintainedsince, it must be taken into account that they are not a whim, but are prescribed by doctors and something that has been done for 40 years in Andalusia.
In this sense, the consumer association has issued a statement stating that templates are a necessity for many people“This measure is especially serious and unfair for those families who have limited financial resources and who, from now on, will have to pay the cost of this health product out of their own pocket.”. Remember that, in the case of children, they are used to correct or control alterations in the bones or muscles of the feet.
This change has been accomplished through a Order of the Ministry of Health and Families of the Junta de Andalucía published on July 4, with the purpose of to state regulations, “comparing to the rest of the autonomous communities in which this benefit had already ceased to be financed.”
However, FACUA considers that the Andalusian government has taken advantage of the situation to cutgiven that “The regulation allows communities, within the scope of their powers, to approve their respective service portfolios which will include, at least, the common portfolio of services of the National Health System”. Hence they could have maintained the same modality that has been developed up to now.
The orthopedic sector and the users themselves ask the Andalusian executive to reconsider the measure so as not to leave thousands of citizens in the lurch who will no longer have orthopedic insoles available for free.