Peru's Minister of Labor and Employment Promotion, Juan Sheput, announced a thorough audit of EsSalud and said the new administration will evaluate declaring the health insurer in a state of emergency amid problems in services such as operations and medicine supply.
In an interview with RPP, Sheput questioned how medicine purchases have been carried out and said the review must determine how the institution ended up facing shortages despite the money spent.
Sheput said it could not be that medicines had been bought in amounts below eight tax units at extremely high prices, generating shortages and unnecessary spending.
Leadership change at EsSalud
The audit announcement comes amid a change of leadership at EsSalud. The government removed Jaime Moreno Eustaquio from the executive presidency and temporarily placed Hilda Sandoval Cornejo in charge of the institution.
Sheput said Sandoval would soon take control of the entity and that she, together with the relevant bodies, would determine the scope of the measures needed.
The minister was sharply critical describing the state in which the institution finds itself. He said the condition in which they are finding the health system is not one of excellence or charity but a disaster, and that anyone listening knows it.
Among the immediate issues Sheput mentioned were attention to operations and the provision of medicines. Supply problems are especially sensitive because their effects fall directly on insured patients when a medicine is unavailable or medical care is delayed.
Possible emergency declaration
Whether EsSalud will be declared in emergency has not yet been decided. Sheput said the decision must be evaluated by the new administration once Sandoval takes control of the institution.
Asked directly whether EsSalud would be declared in emergency, the minister said it still needs to be determined whether that category is the right tool to address the situation.
Sheput also revealed that an emergency declaration had already been proposed in June, though it ultimately did not go forward. According to him, that proposal was related to the possibility of making major medicine purchases without adequate planning.
The minister said the process ended up being halted after the press reported on the case. The new administration will now have to evaluate whether to take up such a measure again and under what conditions.
