IESS Paid $6.620 Million for Referrals to Private Health Entities in Nine Years | Economy | News

IThe Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) paid $6,620 million between 2013 and 2022 – nine years – to 999 service providers. External private health

The millionaire’s number was rDivided mainly into five provinces: 3,300 million in Guayas, 1,627 million in Pichincha, 689 million in Manabi, 376 million in Azuay, and 83 million in Tungurahua. This was reported by the institute itself on its website.

This problem has been noted for several years by many analysts as one of the factors that left the IESS Health Fund without resources. This fund is already experiencing cash problems leading to shortages of services and medicines as well as claims for non-payment from private providers.

to Assembly member Fernando Villavicencio, the case of referring patients to private entities unfortunately involved in a very high corruption conspiracy. Explain that there are many cases of unjustified referrals. That is why he announced that he had opened an investigation agenda from his office to decide on these corruption cases.

Villavicencio comments that according to his initial investigation, the IESS health budget is up to $1.8 billion, of which $800 million goes to salaries and between $650 and $700 million goes to outside healthcare providers, that is, the private sector. Demonstrates that referrals occur even in the case of an abandoned family in IESS. For this reason, he asserts, there are IESS health operators in collusion with private companies to make referrals. He says that, for example, a dental patient from IESS was referred for interventions on three dental pieces, but at the time of settlement it was found that he had undergone an intervention on 20 dental pieces.

He comments that it is also necessary to investigate all purchases of medical supplies at IESS and that the people who identified these supplies are also involved in this problem.

For Villavicencio, it is important that the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, has said that he will not privatize IESS; However, it is considered that IES, At least in the field of health, it has already been privatized. Therefore, what corresponds to him at this time is to “dismantle the web of corruption in these derivations and, in this way, rather disenfranchise the IESS”.

In fact, the first president, Guillermo Lasso, mentioned the IESS case in an interview he gave to journalist Milton Pérez on Sunday. The President said that the IESS will not be privatized, and that the recommendations made by the members of the newly formed committee to develop a reform of the pension system will be submitted to the President of the Republic and this will be for discussion. at the community level. Lasso noted that subsidiaries can have absolute peace of mind that IESS will not be privatized. Anyway, he commented that no one agrees with the quality of the insurance service.

In the same interview, he also mentioned that there are problems with referrals, but in the public sector. He said that when he visited Eugenio Espejo Hospital, doctors told him that there was only 85% occupancy of their installed capacity, and that the huge capacity they had in the laboratories was also not being used. He said this was because the referrals were made to private individuals.

Villavicencio reports that for months he has been preparing an agenda to investigate a series of wrongdoings at IESS and Biess, in the past 15 years. One of the issues will be precisely these derivations.

In addition, the trust funds Biess was involved in and the investments made in the Pañacocha Toachi Pilatón project, which were questioned, began to be investigated. Explain that there are 41 trusts being noticed because they did not meet the objectives This means a loss of about $400 million to Social Security.

The third component to be investigated is the country’s debt to IESS. Also one of the first methods it was in the docs, He said the debt would amount to $10,000 million, of which $7,000 million would be for health and $3,000 million to 40% of the state’s contribution to IESS. These issues will be presented as part of the parliamentary anti-corruption front because, according to him, in the Oversight Committee, Corista members and Assemblywoman María Belén Cordero limit their power to introduce new investigative topics. (YO)