The Government and the Sweden Democrats agree to increase the patient fee by 30 percent, from 2,900 to 3,800 kronor per year. Completely the wrong way to go, believes the Chairman of the Swedish Association of Health Professionals, Sineva Ribeiro.
We already see patients today who, when they receive their prescriptions, ask which ones they need to take out, because they cannot afford them all.
The consequence of the increase, she believes, will be that more people refrain from taking out all their medications, become increasingly ill, and have to be hospitalized.
A hospital bed costs 200,000 kronor per day – because they cannot afford to take out their medications. This will lead to increased costs and burdens on the entire healthcare system, but also an incredible burden on the sick individual.
For me, it becomes a huge equation.
The Government motivates this by saying that the state's share of the costs has increased much more than the patients'. Is it not reasonable to adjust the balance?
I, who pick up my medications once a year, can pay. For patients who need their medications to survive every month, and also have a worse economic situation, this is devastating.
The Swedish Association of Health Professionals proposes an income-based high-cost protection.
