Medicines: there are still ex-combatants without a discount

About five months after the entry into force of the co-payment of medicines for veterans, there are still those who are unable to obtain this benefit when they go to the pharmacy, a situation that the ministry says is residual.

“It’s the usual bureaucracy. To issue the [Former Combatant] card and the exemption from co-payments, there was no need to make any démarche . It was automatic. Now, for medicines, it’s a bureaucracy”, complained Emanuel Lopes, a former combatant, in statements to the Lusa news agency.

In addition to Emanuel Lopes, Lusa learned of some retired veterans who still go to pharmacies but are unable to access the 50% discount on the portion not covered by the National Health Service (SNS) on medicines, announced by the PSD/CDS-PP Government and which came into effect in January.

According to several entities heard by Lusa, including the Ministry of Defense, the problem lies in the fact that some former combatants are not referenced in the National User Registry (RNU) as pensioners.

The ministry overseen by the president of the CDS-PP, Nuno Melo, responded that the registration in the RNU “is under the jurisdiction” of the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), and is updated through the sending of data by the General Directorate of National Defense Resources (DGRDN), “ in view of the condition of Former Combatant, and by the social protection regimes ”, Social Security and the General Pension Fund.

The ministry told Lusa that there are former combatants in this situation, noting that “they are absolutely residual”, and said that “ more than 920 thousand packages have already been dispensed, totaling more than 690 thousand prescriptions ”.

The Ministry of Health emphasizes that the validation of these records is carried out daily in the DGRDN services, “as a result of multiple interactions with Veterans, by telephone, by letter or by email”, which results, “not infrequently, in the correction and sending of new records to the SPMS”.

“I am retired, the Finance Department knows that I am retired, the Defense Department knows that I am retired, the General Pensions Fund knows that I am retired, and it is almost necessary to request a request from the President of the Republic [to have access to the contribution]”, said Emanuel Lopes, who still does not have this benefit, even after having contacted several entities, such as the Defense Single Desk, which told him that it was dealing with the matter, with no forecast of a resolution.

The Ministry of Health's Shared Services (SPMS) told Lusa that the allocation of co-payments “is working correctly”, after some “initial constraints”, but highlighted that in order to access this benefit, former combatants must be “properly identified in the RNU”.

“All reported situations have been analyzed and resolved individually, with continuous monitoring being maintained to ensure the correction of any inconsistencies and ensure compliance with the co-payment regime,” responded the SPMS, indicating two Defense addresses to which these citizens can complain via email: [email protected] and [email protected] .

The SPMS adds that some of the difficulties reported “are associated with doubts in the interpretation of the benefit by users”, giving as an example former combatants who “ have requested co-payment for medical devices, when the additional co-payment only applies to co-paid medicines ” or non-pensioner former combatants who “have requested additional co-payment”.

“There are also users who claim to be entitled to the benefit, but whose situation has not been properly regularized with the competent entities,” reads the response.

According to the Defense Single Counter portal, it is not necessary to present the veteran's card at pharmacies , as long as the medical prescription has a reference to the ordinance.

However, it should be noted that “until the adaptation of electronic prescription systems is completed”, the benefit will only be applied, on an exceptional and temporary basis, to prescriptions without mention of this ordinance if the former combatant is duly registered with the RNU.

For the National Association of Pharmacies (ANF), president Ema Paulino assured Lusa that all pharmacies are covered by this protocol and ready to put it into practice, referring any problems to poor user identification in the RNU.