(Finance) – “The outline of the Elderly Decree prepared by the Government undoubtedly represents a big step towards meeting the needs of over 14 million elderly people cwho, together with family members and caregivers, face difficulties, inconveniences and phenomena of economic impoverishment every day. Aggravated situations from the enormous inequalities in the provision of social and health services, both between the Regions, in particular between North and South, and between urban and rural areas”. Nino Cartabellotta, President of the GIMBE Foundation, said this in a hearing in the Senate.
To benefit from the measures provided for by the provision it will be 24% of the resident population on 1 January 2023 (ISTAT data), i.e. 14,181,297, of which 9,674,627 in the 65-69 age group and 4,506,670 over 80s.
“A number – commented Cartabellotta – which according to demographic projections will increase in the coming years, generating a progressive increase in social and healthcare costs”. In fact, according to ISTAT projections to 2050 those over 65 will reach 18.8 million (equal to 34.5% of the resident population), approximately 4.6 million more than in 2022.
“Considering that the Elderly Decree refers to the Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA) and the Essential Levels of Social Services (LEPS) – underlined the President – the need to fill unacceptable gaps between Regions becomes mandatory, in particular between the North and the South of the country, which will inevitably be exacerbated by differentiated autonomy. Inequalities which today damage the civil rights and dignity of the weakest and most fragile people in the country. The absence of funding dedicated to the various interventions makes, at the moment, the Decree for the elderly an excellent survey of all the measures from which elderly people can benefit, but whose implementation is strongly conditioned not only by the issuing of numerous implementing decrees, but also by resources and significant regional inequalities”.
“The real challenge that this provision poses – concluded Cartabellotta – is whether the country is ready to establish a National Social and Health Service, with related financial needs. Both because it is no longer possible for chronic patients and the elderly to differentiate their needs health and social ones, and because all the cash payments made by the INPS have no destination restriction and are not subjected to any objective verification. It is therefore impossible to estimate the real return on health and quality of life for elderly people”.