The criminal complaint filed by the Isapres Banmédica and Vida Tres against a group of psychiatrists is another example of the serious discrimination suffered by people with mental health disorders and the barriers that the private health system insists on maintaining to maximize its profits at the expense of people’s health.
The exorbitant profits of the Isapres and the current lawsuit account for objectives that do not put people’s health at the center. To put in context, in 2020 the Isapres had profits of $ 82,500 million (USD 115 million), an increase of 772% compared to 2019, and generated a rate of rejection of medical licenses for mental health reasons of 43.9% and reduction of rest days of 14.7%. This means that more than half of medical rests for mental health problems are hampered by the industry.
The pandemic and its health and social consequences have meant a worsening of the mental health of many people, which has predictably increased the cases that require medical treatment and rest.
Unfortunately, instead of facilitating recovery, the path taken by the Isapres has been systematically to refuse medical licenses and request complementary reports, also exposing people to distressing appeals and procedures, a panorama that is already institutionalized.
Not satisfied with this unfortunate way of functioning, today the Isapres have taken a step beyond what is tolerable. Filing a complaint based exclusively on the number of licenses issued by a doctor, calling them false licenses, this is a step that has no technical or ethical basis and that can be considered as a clear measure of intimidation for doctors and further discrimination for people with mental health problems, unacceptable situation, that we think it is necessary to bring public opinion to the attention of public opinion, so that parliamentarians, the judicial system and the authorities can take action on the matter as soon as possible.
The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
