The Minister of Health, Mónica García, has reiterated this Tuesday in the Senate that the extraordinary regularization of migrant people promoted by the Government "has no impact" on the health system, by recalling that this collective "already has healthcare assured" in Spain since the General Health Law of 1986.
During the plenary session in the Upper House, García has answered the Vox senator Paloma Gómez, who had asked him for explanations about the consequences that the aforementioned extraordinary regularization could have for health services.
In her response, the head of Health has accused Vox of having a "racist conscience". "I never know if you are more racist than inept or more inept than racist. Whichever of the two things you have in contention, as a doctor, I tell you that both have a very serious prognosis," she asserted.
García has stressed that Spain is a "supportive" and "proud" country to have a universal public healthcare system. "We are a country that sees patients, that does not see enemies," he stated, while also criticizing that, for Vox, democracy and the public health system "are too big for them."
"You not only do not know your country, not only do not know the legislation of your country, but also do not like your country," he affirmed. Next, he denounced that "those who are drowning" public healthcare are the "tax fraudsters," whom, according to what he said, Vox "protects."
"Do you know who doesn't pay it? The tax fraudsters whom you protect. Do you know who doesn't pay it either? The Disenso Foundation doesn't pay it. Do you know who doesn't pay it either? The donations in the Dana that went directly into Vox's pockets. Those are the ones who are suffocating our public healthcare," the minister stressed.
In this same vein, he/she has highlighted that Spain feels proud to have a public healthcare system that "does not ask you where you are from", but "what is happening to you". "So, ladies and gentlemen of Vox, welcome to your country, if you don't like it, leave", he/she has concluded.
"This is an authentic setback"
For her part, Vox senator Paloma Gómez has warned that the healthcare system has ceased to be "exemplary", as it was "for years". She has described "overwhelmed health centers, endless waiting lists and professionals who can no longer cope with their lives", a reality that, according to her, "is not new, but is indeed worsening".
In this scenario, he/she has maintained that the extraordinary regularization proposed by the Executive "is a genuine setback" and "can become a problem." "Immigration, Madam Minister, is a complex phenomenon that requires control and planning. It is not about opening the doors without rhyme or reason producing a call effect and without taking into account the capacity of our public services, which are by themselves overwhelmed," he/she has pointed out.
Gómez has pointed out that immigrants represent 14 percent of the population and "take out of Spain about 11.5 billion euros each year in remittances." He added that this amount is equivalent to 11 percent of public healthcare spending. "That is to say, the money they earn they take to their countries. Here, they contribute little and leave little," he stated, linking these data with greater pressure on the welfare state.
"Any public system has limits and governing implies recognizing them, so the priority would be to guarantee quality, accessible, and dignified healthcare, starting by ensuring that the healthcare system functions correctly with current resources," the senator concluded.