"Access to universal public healthcare is once again a basic right of all individuals", states Carmen Montón

"This is a law that dignifies political action that I am proud to bring to this House on behalf of the Government of Spain", stressed Carmen Montón from the speakers' rostrum. "This government's vocation is to improve the life of individuals, eliminate inequalities by guaranteeing their rights, solidarity and social cohesion. To achieve this, we need to recover the universal nature of access to the SNS".

This law represents a change of model in healthcare. The right to be attended to by the National Health System is based on one's status as a citizen and hence, recognition is not coupled to the status as an insured or beneficiary. Accordingly, access to public health under conditions of equality and universality is a basic right of all individuals. "For the previous government, it was urgent to limit and cut rights; for this government it is urgent to recover them".

At the plenary session in the Lower House, the minister highlighted that the law provides "coordination, harmonisation and legal certainty" to those people who had been left outside the system under Royal Decree-Law16/2012, approved by the People's Party, and also those healthcare professionals and regional governments "that had tried to find a solution to this exclusion by taking on healthcare provision in an unequal manner".

Royal Decree-Law 7/2018 is the result of a dialogue process with the regional governments, scientific societies and civil society. The law responds to the demands made by those parties involved and such international bodies as the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the World Health Organization.

"Honourable Members, Spain enjoys a quality public healthcare system we can be proud of and today we strengthen this system by recovering its universal nature and converting healthcare assistance into a basic right of all individuals", stressed the Minister for Health, Consumption and Social Well-being.

By recovering its universal nature, the government is achieving the goal set by Minister Ernest Lluch in 1986 by approving the General Health Act, which laid the foundations for one of the pillars of the Welfare State in our country. "With this same spirit, we are defending the fundamental right to healthcare for all people, without exclusions. Healthcare respects no borders, ID cards, work or residency permits".

Hence, the rule recognises the right of all people in Spain to healthcare protection under the same conditions as those people with Spanish nationality. This includes those people who are not registered or authorised as residents in our country.

At any event, healthcare will not be paid out of public funds whenever a third party is under an obligation to settle payment or the right to healthcare cover can be passed on to the patient's country of origin.

The minister outlined to the Lower House some of the contributions to the law introduced by the parties involved, such as free healthcare in the period between the use of the provisional document and the issue of the definitive health card, and the declaration that no third party exists under an obligation to settle payment as a signed declaration and not a sworn declaration.

"A just society excludes no-one", stressed the minister, who appealed for a choice between "universality and exclusion: this differentiates the way in which politics is done and the vision of society".

Carmen Montón ended her speech on the speakers' rostrum in the Lower House of Parliament by publicly expressing her gratitude "to all those people who have fought against healthcare exclusion over these last six years - professionals and social bodies and organisations".

Non official translation