They warn of impacts on the Welfare Fund

Representative Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba (PAN) accused President Claudia Sheinbaum's new initiative to the General Health Law of dismantling the Health Fund, which is used to treat serious illnesses such as cancer, and exacerbating the crisis in third-level care and drug shortages.

According to the secretary of the Chamber of Deputies' Health Committee, this initiative represents a "direct and unacceptable threat to health." He even described it as an "assault on health care" that targets Mexicans' accumulated funds in the Health and Well-being Fund by dismantling financial protection against serious illnesses and institutionalizing discretionary purchasing of medications.

Specifically, the PAN representative warned that the president's proposal attacks the Health Fund for Catastrophic Expenses ( FONSABI ) by seizing resources intended for vital treatments and centralizing their management.

"The Initiative eliminates the requirement to allocate at least 8% of the Fund's resources to care for diseases with catastrophic costs, such as cancer, HIV, or neonatal intensive care," he explained.

In addition to noting that the Fund, originally established to pay for specialty treatments, will now be used for current expenses, including maintenance and upkeep, he warned that this will weaken care and generate fewer funds available for the most expensive treatments, jeopardizing the continued care of seriously ill patients.

Percentages

According to the president's initiative, the distribution percentages for the Health and Well-being Fund are being eliminated to allow the Trust Fund's Technical Committee to collectively determine the proportion in which the resources allocated for the purposes set forth in the law will be distributed.

In addition to eliminating the section stating that the resources accumulated in the Fund will continue to guarantee care for illnesses that cause catastrophic expenses, the changes stipulate that: "The resources accumulated in the Fund will continue to be used to comply with the provisions of Sections I, II, and III of Article 77 bis 29 of this Law; in addition, the definition of "catastrophic expenses" has been changed to "high cost."

In this context, Ramírez Barba argued that these modifications are due to "Morena's voracity," since in 2018, the Fund had 93 billion pesos and today, only 32 billion remain. He therefore accused the funds of being used with opacity and diverted to the government's "priority 2 projects," without benefiting patients.

"The risk is the disappearance of this Fund, just as happened with other trusts," he said.

On the other hand, the PAN representative asserted that this reform will "institutionalize the shortage" of medicines, as it reinforces the centralization of purchasing within the Ministry of Health and BIRMEX, "a model that has failed."

He argued that it would be irresponsible to maintain and enact the BIRMEX model, whose 2025-2026 tender was declared void due to overpricing of 15 billion euros and serious irregularities.

He also noted that the government owes 14 billion pesos to the pharmaceutical sector, including Mexican companies, which is financially strangling the industry rather than promoting it.

Finally, Representative Éctor Jaime Ramírez Barba announced that his party will propose that the Health Fund be untouched and that part of the IEPS revenue be allocated to this fund to guarantee payment for serious treatments. He also announced that an Open Parliament will be held to analyze this reform.