Apulia: the axe of cuts to cover a deficit of 369 million falls
Economy and Health call for structural measures such as closures or mergers of wards or hospitals, lower pharmaceutical expenditure and for private facilities
Key points
Drastic measures to bridge the 2025 deficit in Apulia's health system, calculated at EUR 369 million: closing wards and reducing pharmaceutical spending. From the Roman monitoring table of the Ministries of Health and the Economy on the regional health deficit, there have been requests for structural measures to be included in a three-year operational plan that envisages closures or mergers of wards or entire hospitals, rationalisation of pharmaceutical spending, and action on costs for private facilities and no-core services. Requests for measures that had already emerged during the examination of the 2024 deficit, but were postponed by the Emiliano administration and are now rebounding on the new Decaro executive.
Irpef increase
Not even the ventilated increase in the Irpef surtax would be enough, because measures that can no longer be postponed would be needed, despite the fact that the region emphasised, at the Roman table, that net of the 250 million euro extra cost induced by the increase in drug prices and the renewal of staff contracts, the 2025 loss is in line with that of 2024 (132 million covered by the autonomous budget). Therefore, no further deterioration.
Along with drugs and staff contract renewals, the other negative item, which is also structural and very old, is passive mobility, with the many Apulians who go to other Italian regions for treatment, despite the many advances made in the region's excellent hospital and care facilities.
Reorganise Systems
The ball is now in the court of the measures that will be taken by the Decaro government, which, just a few weeks after taking office, has put in place measures to reduce waiting lists - from 2 February to 4 March, 75,315 people were called up, 34,007 bookings were made in advance, and 24,269 services were performed - and which intends to reorganise healthcare services to increase the efficiency of the system. These are all containment measures, the region specifies, but they will not affect the 2025 deficit.
From the oppositions, a stop to the increase of the Irpef surtax and the request for a change in the top management of the health sector and therefore a change of pace against delays and stealing. On the health deficit, however, the debate will continue at the Roman table for the final quantification of the health deficit for 2025, which will be followed by the choice of the actions necessary for the recovery of past spending.
