The IB-Salut denies the hole in care for tourists: "It is not the tip of the iceberg"

PalmaThe IB-Salut denies that the difficulties in invoicing and collecting healthcare for tourists are a widespread problem within public healthcare. The IB-Salut's management director, Yago Gómez, argues that the majority of invoicing is recovered and attributes pending cases to specific situations.

“It is not the tip of the iceberg, what is not collected, is not. The majority of IB-Salut's invoicing is collected within the deadline and in the appropriate manner,” assures Gómez. The official explains that the large volume of assistance to foreign citizens corresponds to people who have a European Health Insurance Card and are part of the European circuit. “The large volume of assistance we provide is to residents of the European Union who are part of the European circuit and have a European Health Insurance Card,” he points out. In these cases, the expense is claimed from the healthcare systems of the countries of origin.

Companies to pursue the 'debtors'

The problem, as he admits, mainly arises when the patient does not present documentation and enters the private circuit. When payment is not made, IB-Salut also has a specialized company for debt collection. "We have had a company responsible for tracking debtors for many years," explains Gómez.

The management director also rejects that healthcare professionals have responsibilities in this process. "Healthcare professionals do not handle any collection management," he states. Billing begins in the administrative admission circuit of the centers, where patient data is collected. Gómez gives the example of any emergency assistance: "A patient from Santa Ponça arriving at three in the morning finds someone at the counter."

Gómez also argues that a lack of coverage or documentation cannot condition assistance. "A patient I have at the hospital door will not be denied care: patient autonomy prevails," he states. And, while admitting that there are patients who leave without paying, he assures that the system allows recovering a significant part of the debts: "We collect with good success rates," he says,without providing specific data.

Gómez's version contrasts with the testimonies collected by ARA Balears. Professionals from different centers assure that in some PACs there is no admission staff during the night and that it is the healthcare professionals themselves who have to enter administrative data. Furthermore, the collection company can only claim invoices that have been generated, but not assistance that has not been registered. IB-Salut has also not specified what percentage of billing it recovers or how many visits fall outside the administrative circuit.