“That I must Include Health It’s historic. that should PamiNo. And the two together, less so. I think there is a decision behind this. In general we all took Pami for granted. Not now,” describes María Bayá Casal, from the Argentine Federation of Non-Profit Organizations of and for people with disabilities (Fededis). She thus summarizes the panorama that those who work in the care of retired and disabled people in situations of social vulnerability: the sector hardest hit since Javier Milei’s government took office.
Similar comments about debts from both Incluir Salud – which depends on the Ministry of Health and provides coverage to people with non-contributory pensions – and Pami, the social work for retirees, come from different parts of the country. The conflict impacts the ministerial leadership of Mario Lugones. Hours ago, the always controversial “Official Response Office of the Argentine Republic” was in charge of going out to deny a note of El Diario.Ar that raised his imminent departure: “The Minister of Health, Mario Lugones, is not leaving“, assured the voice that defends the presidential administration in x. Then, an Adorni-Lugones meeting underpinned the decisions to support both, each in the midst of their crisis.
In a new instance of monitoring the management of each portfolio, the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorni, held a working meeting with the Minister of Health, Mario Lugones, to analyze the evolution of the area.
The results of the 2024/2025 management period were analyzed and… pic.twitter.com/ixqSW53Ncs
— Chief of Staff (@Jefatura_Ar) April 7, 2026
From Pami, meanwhile, they assured Time that “At a general level, payment schedules are being met and are within the established deadlines“Although at the same time they recognized that in ophthalmological care “there is a delay in some payments and we are looking at ways to regularize the situation as soon as possible.”
The truth is that there are already cases of paralysis in that sector. The Association of Ophthalmologists Black River (AORN) announced a attention restriction for an indefinite period that covers all Pami members in the province, for pending payments. In Santa Fealthough a general measure was not taken, there were specific cessations of care and warnings of more restrictions if payments are not regularized. “(The attention) may be resentful because some businesses made the unilateral resolution since we are talking about unpaid October invoices, regardless of the fact that the value of the benefits was overdue,” said Lucio Marani, president of the Rosario Chamber of Optics, to LT8.
In Cordovathe president of the Association of Private Clinics and Sanatoriums (Aclisa), Ignacio Escuti, told the newspaper La Voz that “Pami’s values are far behind the real costs, with delays that in many cases exceed 100%, in a context of permanent increases.” That is why the entities in the sector warned the national authorities about a “operational, economic and financial asphyxiation” that compromises the continuity of medical care.
Since the pharmacies They had already been warning of difficulties in sustaining care due to the lack of payments from Pami. “When payments do not arrive on time, the entire chain of care suffers,” the main pharmaceutical entities announced at the beginning of the year, in a statement to send Pami the demand that it regularize pending payments.
As Tatiana Scorciapino reported in this media days ago, the amount owed from the Ministry of Health to the institutions and benefits of the disability sector was close to $250,000 million towards the end of March, while in the social work of retirees and pensioners it was around $700,000 million.
“You have to choose what to pay”
“With Pami in 2026, payments were cut. Then they resumed. They paid us in November and December at the end of March. But they have continued to owe since January. Added to that is the debt from Incluir Salud, which together with Pami is the bulk of the population we have,” says Bayá Casal, a reference for Fededis and the Nano Foundation, for people with visual disabilities. “There are situations of risk of closure and in San Miguel there are already two spaces that have closed. The vast majority of us are paying percentages of fees, social charges are owed. You have to choose what to pay“, he laments. “With the particularity – he adds – that there is not much offer of services.”
This is what people with disabilities and families who fought for the Emergency Law have been warning for a long time: If the spaces attended by low-income people with disabilities fall, the system for them falls. There are no alternatives, and the less that remains will only be for those who can afford them.
“Until two years or more ago, if Pami did not pay one month there was a cushion. Today, since the values were not updated as appropriate and as indicated by the law, they live with what is fair. The Emergency Law forced the Ministry to bring the values to the level of December 2023. It was a mass of 36% that should have been updated in January. Justice forced them, but they made a plan to pay month by month. Then they began to update according to inflation, but that 36 killed us. There are two situations that add up: outdated values (of the nomenclator) and delayed payment”he explains.
“Month by month the situation is deteriorating. In the case of Pami, in some sections they began to pay in November. In others, not yet. The providers continue to complain. In the case of Incluir Salud, in Capital it is due from October inclusive. And in the Province of Buenos Aires from November. With the aggravating factor that the situation of transport providers is even worse due to the increases suffered by gasoline,” points out Fernando Gantesti, from the Association of Transporters for People with Disabilities. Disability. “As usual, has an impact on people with disabilities, on their quality of life, on the treatments they have to receive and do not receive”, he remarks.
According to another source in the sector, after several meetings and complaints from representatives of disability chambers for the debts that existed until the end of March, pending payments from Pami were made in Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Santa Fe. “In the rest of the country they committed to the first half of April, which The interior is still very complicated due to lack of payments”.
This Tuesday, the Permanent Disability Forum published a new letter to legislators due to the severity of the crisis that is shaking the sector. Among the factors included that “Pami pays late” and “Include Salud owes months.”
In relation to Incluir Salud, one of the arguments that the Government uses to justify the delays has to do with the dissolution of the National Disability Agency –in the framework of a corruption scandal that is still being investigated- and its transfer as Secretary to the Ministry of Health. “They paid those who have agreements signed and uploaded to the system, but they left the rest with the excuse that they cannot find the agreements or do not have the signatures. There was a meeting last week and they made a commitment to get on track with the digitalization of agreements and signatures of those that are missing. In those cases there have been delays since November,” said a representative of the disability sector.
