Common rules so public healthcare works the same across Spain

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The law sets equity, quality and social participation as goals of the National Health System, and creates the framework for the State and the autonomous communities to coordinate and cooperate on health care.
2. It creates a catalog of services that includes public health, primary care, specialized care, sociosanitary care, emergencies, pharmaceutical services, orthopedic products, dietary products and medical transport. Services are delivered through a service portfolio approved by royal decree and updated by ministerial order.
3. It recognizes rights for all citizens: a second medical opinion, care in their autonomous community within a maximum time, and receiving care in any autonomous community under the same conditions as its residents.
4. It guarantees equal access to services regardless of where users are located, and sets maximum access times agreed in the Interterritorial Council, except for organ transplants and catastrophes.
5. It regulates the individual health card, which will include the holder's basic data, their right to services and the entity responsible for their care, and must be readable throughout the national territory.
6. It organizes the State's powers over pharmaceuticals: the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices evaluates and authorizes medicines, while the Ministry decides their public funding and price. The autonomous communities join the agency's new Governing Board.
7. It strengthens the Interterritorial Council as the main cohesion body between the State and the autonomous communities, and creates the Quality Agency, the Observatory of the National Health System and the Institute of Health Information.
8. The State exercises High Inspection to verify that State and regional health powers are being fulfilled, and if it finds noncompliance it can warn and formally require the autonomous community to act.

Who it affects

• Citizens and patients: They get common rights across Spain: a second opinion, maximum waiting times, care when traveling and a health card valid nationwide.
• Health professionals: Their training, professional career, competency evaluation and mobility between autonomous communities are regulated.
• Autonomous communities: They are financially responsible for services and take part in bodies such as the Interterritorial Council and the medicines agency's Governing Board.
• Private health centers: Safety and quality guarantees apply to them, and public authorities can oversee their information, public health and quality practices.
• Pharmacies: They cooperate with the National Health System in providing pharmaceutical services and promoting the rational use of medicines.

Words worth knowing

Cartera de servicios (service portfolio)

The set of techniques, technologies and procedures through which health services are actually delivered.

Consejo Interterritorial (Interterritorial Council)

The body where the Ministry of Health and the health officials of the autonomous communities meet to coordinate the system.

Uso tutelado (supervised use)

Temporary authorization of a new technique or treatment, in authorized centers and under protocols, to check its safety and effectiveness before adding it to the portfolio.

Alta Inspección (High Inspection)

A State function that oversees compliance with the health powers of the State and the autonomous communities.

Atención sociosanitaria (sociosanitary care)

Care for chronically ill patients that combines health and social services, such as long-term care or rehabilitation.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries