Health card to be restored “imminently” to immigrants

Palma.—President Armengol said yesterday that the government is looking to imminently approve a decree which will restore the health card to the 20,000 or so immigrants who lost the right to the card in 2012. She made this announcement during a visit to the health centre in Sa Pobla. Accompanied by Patricia Gómez, the minister for health, she said that the government was working intensely on returning the right to health care that had been taken away in a “cruel and inefficient” manner by central government.
She stressed that health is an absolute priority for the new government, noting that many cuts had jeopardised the health service and praising professionals in the services for their efforts despite the cuts.
 On the health card, she said that immigrants would have the same rights as every other citizen in the Balearics and emphasised the inefficiency created by the measure through which the card was taken away.
“It was inefficient in health and economic terms, given that it involved a risk to the health of all and that it removed the possibility for health professionals to provide preventive and follow-up care.”