Press release - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Saúde e Segurança Social

Following the statements made by the PS/Açores parliamentary group, the Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security wishes to clarify the following:

The Regional Secretariat for Health and Social Security commissioned the Institute for Social Security of the Azores (ISSA) to conduct a study to determine the average cost per user across the various services provided by private social solidarity institutions (IPSS), considering the specific characteristics of each of the nine islands of the archipelago and the additional costs of social services in the Azores compared with Mainland Portugal.

ISSA requested information from 111 institutions regarding the costs associated with their respective services, and has received replies from 95 so far.

Despite successive extensions to the deadline – the latest ending on September 7– ISSA is still awaiting responses from the remaining 16 institutions.

Funding for IPSS in the Azores comes from the national Social Security budget. As such, the Government of the Azores must press the National Government for differentiated treatment for social responses in the Region.

In this regard, the Government of the Azores considers it essential that the private social solidarity institutions that have not yet replied to the ISSA do so, so as to accurately determine the average cost per service user across the various services provided by the institutions and better defend the institutions’ interests before the National Government.