The government has given the green light to the Calderoli Decree on “differentiated autonomy”. A matter handed over to bureaucratic jargon that seems to concern healthcare governance that has little to do with our lives. But it’s not like that. Instead, it concerns all of us and who will have the opportunity to be treated and who, on the other hand, will remain out. With an easy forecast: it will be good for the citizens of the centre-north, even better for the wealthy.
Healthcare: the rich will live, the poor who knows
by Daniela Minerva
What does Calderoli want
The decree provides that, also in the field of health, the regions have “a double opportunity: to directly manage materials and resources and to provide citizens with more efficient and less expensive services”, said Giorgia Meloni. What will happen?
And relationship of the Gimbe Foundation details how this “opportunity” will result in a further gap between the different regions, widening the gap between those that are doing well and those that are not caring for the people. And so, writes Gimbe: “Differentiated regionalism will make the central-southern regions, which will have fewer and fewer resources to redevelop their services, customers of the services produced by the northern regions. They will receive customers from all over Italy”. Because, explains Gimbe, being able to manage health care without referring to the NHS will give virtuous regions an acceleration.
An example: the Calderoli decree says that the regions will be able to autonomously manage the salaries of doctors, the employment contracts of health personnel, access to specialty schools … Ergo, whoever has money and works well will attract workers from other regions by emptying hospitals and local health authorities in central-southern Italy. And then that they will be able to put their mouth on the registrations of drugs. Remove spending constraints. In short, do what they want by smashing the NHS into 21 self-referential and selfish small states.
A boost to health insurance
Not only that: Calderoli provides autonomy in the establishment and management of supplementary health funds. That is, a push to push those who can afford it to take out health insurance (and we can bet that it will be above all citizens of the Centre-North) so as to be able in turn to push for the privatization of services. Here, the last joke: as is known, insurance, funds and so on are tax deductible, resulting in a lower income for general taxation. More private assistance means less money for public assistance. So on towards an “American” system.