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The tests prescribed in health centers will stop paying user fees, even when they are performed in private clinics or laboratories with an agreement with the National Health Service. The measure will take effect from January 2021.
The decree-law that establishes the exemption from payment of moderator fees in complementary diagnostic and therapeutic tests, prescribed in the context of primary health care and carried out outside public health institutions and services, was published this Wednesday in the “Diário da República” and will take effect on January 1.
This exemption was approved on October 22 by the Council of Ministers and aims to continue the progressive exemption from the collection of moderation fees in the National Health Service (SNS) or in the care prescribed by the SNS. In this case, as long as they are prescribed by the family doctor or by a clinician of the health center, the exams will not pay user fees, “regardless of whether they are performed in a public, private or social environment,” he specified in his moment the Minister of Health. , Marta feared.
The exemption of user fees for primary health care will cost the state 47.3 million euros next year, according to the proposed State Budget 2021.
Remember it, since the beginning of this year, consultations in health centers are free. As of September, the tests prescribed and performed by the primary public health care stopped paying user fees. The decree-law, published this Wednesday, extends this free to exams, prescribed by health centers, performed in clinics and in private or social laboratories.
The objective of this measure is “to achieve an increasingly fair and inclusive NHS, which better responds to the needs of the population and guarantees universal health coverage”, as can be read in that decree-law.
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