Dominican Republic: Doctors Go On Strike Against Insurance

Last Monday, the strike announced weeks before by the Dominican Medical Association (CMD) took place, as part of a series of isolated protests, which would be carried out if the demands are not heard. Representatives of these companies informed that the strike will be nationwide.

The strike ratifies the failure of negotiations between the Dominican Association of Health Insurance Companies and grassroots organizations, led by the Dominican Medical Association, which are demanding a democratization of the health insurance system and an improvement in health infrastructure and services.

The main demands that are retaken and redrafted from unsuccessful conversations are the regulation of codes for physicians, the expansion of the Basic Health Plan and the leveling of rates in professional fees, among others.

The effects of the strike were felt on Monday, affecting several health services, which were not well received by many patients. In view of this situation, the Dominican Association of Health Risk Insurers has proposed to the leaders of the strike to agree on a new negotiating table. The request was communicated by its president, José Manuel Vargas, insisting on the need of not affecting patients

The Medical Association is at the forefront of the striking professionals. Its president, Rufino Senén Caba, warned that they are in permanent session and asked those responsible to seek a solution to their demands in order to avoid a deepening of the struggle. The strike lasted 12 hours and began early in the morning.

Several mass media have reported that the government has not made any statement so far.

Since July 26, the strikers announced that it would be a staged stoppage in response to the absence of agreements in the meetings held with government health institutions and the insurance company.

These negotiations were carried out for more than four months, and representatives of the plaintiff institutions denounce that they only received “vague promises”. This was communicated by Senén Caba, president of the CMD.

Both state and private institutions participated in the strike, both sectors interested in the creation of a Social Security Law that guarantees the quality of health services, and that these services be conceived as citizens’ rights.

“It is not possible that after 14 joint meetings, the committee has not made a proposal that minimally meets the expectations of those of us who went there, with the promise that it was the expeditious way to reach an agreement,” the CDM stated in a communiqué.

These are not the only demands being made by Dominican medical organizations to the government. Already in days prior to January 2023, different guilds of the sector, under the banner of the National Health Coordinating Committee CONASALUD, complained to the president about the “lack of equipment and medicines in the hospitals of the country” and called for the “remodeling of the health centers that are not in good conditions.”