Medium-term units in long-term care are the ones that have the greatest loss due to underfunding by the State and this year, with the wage update and inflation, the value can reach 500 euros per month per user.
A study by the Faculty of Economics of Porto, to which Lusa had access, concluded that both the Convalescence Units (UC, hospitalizations up to 30 days), as the Medium Duration and Rehabilitation Units (UMDR, between 30 and 90 days) and the Long Duration and Maintenance Units (ULDM, hospitalizations longer than 90 days) are underfunded, but the ones that have the most damage are the UMDR.
The authors of the study stress that, despite the price update in 2022, the amount paid by the State “remains considerably lower than the unit costs borne by long-term care institutions”, which may “compromise the quality of services” offered by some institutions and “even their survival”.
The work, done at the request of the National Association of Continuing Care (ANCC), points to state underfunding in the three valences, but with worsening if the weight of this year’s salary update and inflation is taken into account.
Taking into account the accounts of ANCC members, the study concluded that UMDR had the highest monthly loss per user last year. This service, which the State finances with €95.84/user/day, had a loss of €10.40/user/day in 2022, a figure that rises to €15.01 when taking into account the weight of this year’s wage update and to €16.68 if inflation is considered.
In the UCs, where the State pays €110.84 per user/day, the loss was €6.56 per user/day, a figure that rises to €12.25 counting the weight of the salary update and to €13.72 adding inflation.
In the ULDM, the loss was € 5.28 / patient / day, but can reach € 8.82 in the scenario outlined by the Faculty of Economics of Porto adding the salary update and € 10.01 in the second scenario, which also includes the weight of inflation. In this valence, the amount paid by the State is € 75.48 / patient / day.
Contacted by Lusa, the president of ANCC, José Bourdain, explained that, as last year there was an update in the amount paid by the State in the case of ULDM, there was an improvement in this valence, although it remains underfunded.
“Although prices were improved last year, (…) this means, for example, that the medium duration had a monthly loss of € 300 [per user], a little more, and that the long duration had, last year, an average loss of more than € 150”, he said.
Regarding the year 2023, the official says that the average monthly loss should be around € 500 / patient in medium-term units.
José Bourdain stressed the urgency of a review of prices paid by the State in all three valences, recalling the importance of ensuring the survival of these institutions: “If we look at 2023, in which there was no price update, (…) we have the impact of the increase in the national minimum wage, an inflation that continues to grow in goods and services, and in the food part it is much higher than the average “.
As for the workers in these units, he adds, many did not have a salary increase, “but others even had more than the minimum wage”. “Therefore, the scenario [for 2023] worsens,” he insisted.
The ANCC has been insisting on the need for this increase in state funding, recalling that the accounts made to define the state payment should take into account the salary increases defined for the Civil Service and inflation, to guarantee the survival of these institutions.
The study by the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto covered the 21 institutions associated with ANCC, which in total have 851 beds distributed among the three responses.
After, in June, the Government announced a 40% increase in funding for new long-term care beds through the Recovery and Resilience Plan, ANCC considered that the amount was “short”.
José Bourdain was heard in May in parliament, revealing that, due to the financial asphyxiation of these institutions, 300 long-term care beds had already been closed this year, admitting that the situation would worsen throughout the year.
