“They are dismantling public health without the courage to admit it. Meloni continues to lie to Italians by saying that they have made the largest investment in history in health care”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s response doesn’t convince Elly Schlein at all: “They are dismantling public healthcare,” says the secretary of the Democratic Party to “Avvenire”. The secretary of the Democratic Party holds on tightly to the two graphs also shown in the Chamber. And she appeals to data and numbers to counter Meloni’s narrative on issues dear to the Democrats: “They are dismantling public healthcare without the courage to admit it. Meloni continues to lie to Italians by saying that they have made the largest investment in history in healthcare. The problem is that healthcare spending is calculated worldwide on GDP. And that is falling to its lowest level in the last 15 years. Her cuts – Schlein points out – are being paid directly by citizens, because the Court of Auditors says that in 2023 healthcare spending increased by 10 percent, or 4 billion. The same ones who put it on tax reform. They take away with one hand what they pretend to give with the other. That’s why I call it the Meloni tax”. The secretary observes that “responsibility is never just on one side. But here we are in a buck-passing game. Meloni always blames someone else. She blames the Regions for the waiting lists, infuriating even those who govern them, but they have not given her a single euro more, while they had launched a hiring plan that disappeared into thin air. The staff is exhausted with grueling shifts, fleeing to the private sector or abroad (40 thousand doctors have fled in recent years)”.
“I don’t know,” she continues, “since when the prime minister hasn’t left the Palace and gone to a hospital. There are still ‘tokenists’ and if there are, it’s because, when she was in government with Berlusconi and I was at the university, they put a cap on hiring. Today they exempt overtime from taxes. But the staff is exhausted. Resources are needed to hire new people.” Yesterday, the law on sharing corporate profits was approved. The Democratic Party abstained: “The issue has always been dear to us, but we contest the government amendments that have emptied the text, also signed by some of us, making everything optional, leaving it to the will of the companies. We are for full participation, including management.” The Democratic Party has embraced the referendums, but remains divided on the questions on work: “The Democratic Party has a line approved without any votes against in the Board and provides support for the 5 referendums. A survey by Pagnoncelli has shown how our base is the most convinced of the questions – between 92 and 97 percent – including the one on citizenship” concludes Schlein.
