“In 2015, 25% of Portuguese people had a health insurance policy. At the end of 2021, 34% of Portuguese people have a private health insurance policy out of desperation, because they cannot find a solution in the SNS”, said IL deputy Mário Amorim Lopes during the parliamentary debate on the state of the National Health Service (SNS).

Given the increase in insurance registered in recent years, Mário Amorim Lopes questioned “Who really is the best friend of the private sector in health in Portugal if not the PS”, rejecting that the investment in the SNS had a return for users.

According to the deputy, in practice, the increase in funds allocated to the SNS during socialist governance resulted in “1.5 million Portuguese people without a family doctor and waiting lists for surgery and specialist consultations”.

In her response, socialist deputy Mariana Vieira da Silva considered IL's insistence on insurance data to be “very curious”, claiming that, although 34% of Portuguese people have insurance, this “is only worth 4.5% of health expenditure”.

“Who provides healthcare in this country is the SNS”, highlighted the former minister, adding that these insurances, for the most part, “are part of packages that companies pay for”.

“They are not chosen out of desperation and do not weigh on the lives of families”, said Mariana Vieira da Silva, after highlighting, in her intervention, that between 2015 and 2024, the SNS Budget increased by 5.6 billion euros, plus 72%, which made it possible to hire an additional 29,500 professionals during this period.