Spanish
The head of the General Directorate of Information and Defense of Social Security Affiliates (DIDA), Elías Báez, denounced that the majority of Health Risk Administrators (ARS) do not purchase high-cost medications from the Directorate of Access to High-Cost Medications (DAMAC) in violation of Resolution 553 of the National Council of Social Security (CNSS), article 5, paragraph G, which prevents affiliates from having access to the cheaper ones.
Elías Báez reported that this Resolution establishes that the ARS must acquire high-cost medications through the (DAMAC) and that if they are not available then they should be purchased on the normal market, which is not currently happening.
"The High-Cost Drug Access Directorate (DAMAC) purchases in bulk and has international agreements, which allows these medicines to be marketed at a cost of up to 80 percent less than in the regular market, allowing the affiliate to have access to a greater quantity of medicines and for the resources they have in coverage to be more effective," said Báez.
The director of DIDA also urged the ARS to comply with sentence 111-19 of the Constitutional Court (TC), which orders the provision of the medication to the patient as long as there are funds available in their Family Health Insurance (SFS), even if the drug is not included in the catalog of the Health Services Plan (PDSS).
The director of DIDA also recalled that the ARS must assume the patient's coverage before transferring them to the High Cost Program, as part of a more agile and humane response to the needs of the affiliates.
He called on patients to go to DIDA and request their coverage letter to verify the amount of resources available in their ARS before going to the Directorate of Access to High Cost Medications and announced that DIDA will open a stand in DAMAC to offer this service to the population.
Elías Báez spoke about the topic after a meeting with the director of the Directorate of Access to High Cost Medications (DAMAC), Carlos Sánchez Solimán, along with the technical team of both institutions in which they discussed the main aspects that affect the effective obtaining of coverage for these medications within the Dominican Social Security System.
During the meeting, both institutions agreed to make efforts to ensure that patients attending the program are well informed, know their rights, have comprehensive coverage and cost-effective management of their available resources, their health coverage in the ARS and in the DAMAC.
The director of DIDA announced that he will suggest to the National Council of Social Security the strengthening of regulations on this issue.
