What are the 10 service providers that received the most income from the IESS?

The cost of the referrals that the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) must pay to the various external providers: clinics, hospitals, dental, ophthalmological and laboratory services, and that in the period from 2013 to 2022 meant a total of $6.620 million has been measured over time. while in 2019 the annual payment reached $731.7 million, delivered to 431 external providers; by 20222, the figure was placed in $656.6 million allocated to 450 providers.

The figure is still high and represents between 60% and 70% of what the IESS allocates for medical care. The theme of the referrals that in many cases could be unjustified will be investigated in the following weeks by of legislator Fernando Villavicencio, as he has announced.

But which are the service provider companies to which the IESS has paid the most in 2022?

The IESS keeps a published list, year by year, of the service providers that most participate in the provision.

In 2022, the 10 companies that received the most payments – together $219.5 million – for referrals represented 33.4% of the total ($656.6 million), while another 440 providers received the remaining 66.3%.

On the other hand, if the amount paid during the nine-year period (from 2013 to 2022) is compared, there are small variations in those who occupied the first positions in the ranking:

The 10 companies that received the most payments and that reached a total of $1,558.1 million represented 25.88% of the total of $6,620 million. The amounts allocated to these providers are millionaires. But the IESS has already begun to have problems in complying with said payments.

Ana Delgado, president of the National Association of Clinics and Hospitals (ACHPE), He considers that there are surely difficulties in the IESS referral system, but clarifies that his organization does not feel alluded to on the subject of alleged unjustified referrals. He explains that, from what he understands, these refer more to issues related to eye care, dentistry and even laboratories. In any case, he acknowledges that his association includes the largest health entities in the country (44 clinics and hospitals and specialized centers or dialysis machines) and that they are effectively related to the IESS and the Ministry of Health.

In any case, he explains that from the second semester of 2021 and all of 2022 the referrals were dropping significantly. And for her it is due to two reasons. On the one hand, the IESS has restricted these referrals, presumably due to lack of liquidity and, on the other hand, the private providers themselves are not receiving all the referrals either because they do not want to continue increasing the large debt that already exists.

That debt could be hovering around $500 million, including debt from the IESS and the Ministry of Health. However, he explains that this figure is just a projection since the survey of the information that is done every year and in which the information of each of its members is collected is not yet being prepared. In any case, he recalls that in January 2022, when the last official survey was carried out, it was established that the debt it was at $366 million. This figure does not include debts with the Armed Forces Social Security Institute (Issfa) and the Police Social Security (Isspol), which it ensures are minor and therefore manageable. (YO)