Excess costs of primary health care in the Azores reach 28.6% — DNOTICIAS.PT

The regional finance minister of the Azores, Duarte Freitas, revealed today that the excess costs of primary health care in the archipelago, compared to those on the mainland, amount to 28.6%, while the costs of hospital care amount to 22.2%.

The excess costs of education amount to 11%, said the head of the Finance, Planning and Public Administration portfolio, who presented data on the budget deficit and public debt of the Azores in 2023, in Ponta Delgada.

Duarte Freitas announced that these preliminary data come from studies developed for the regional government by the University of the Azores and the University of Nova de Lisboa, with the aim of technical support for the review of the Regional Finance Code, which the autonomous regions are defending.

“To provide the same level of social and educational support that exists at the national level, in the Azores we have these additional costs. This significantly affects the regional budget compared to the average Portuguese territory,” stated the responsible person. To the Finance Department.

The governments of the Azores and Madeira are promoting a joint proposal to review the Finance Code of the Autonomous Communities.

The working group responsible for submitting a proposal to the governments of Madeira and the Azores to revise the regional finance law must submit the document by the end of 2023, its coordinator Eduardo Paz Ferreira announced in July.

The public finance specialist said at the time that “things were not easy for the autonomous regions” regarding their financial relationship with the Republic.

“In recent years, successive revisions of the law have always led to aggravation of transfers to the regions,” the expert noted.

The Regional Finance Law is the legislative instrument that determines the rules and principles of the budget, in addition to the financial means for the two autonomous regions to achieve their financial independence.