Bill would allocate 20% of electronic lottery to palliative care in Costa Rica

Congressman Jonathan Acuña Soto of the Broad Front, together with the Palliative Care Association, presented to the legislative body a bill that proposes to allocate 20% of the profits generated by the electronic lottery of the Social Protection Board (JPS) to palliative care clinical associations with smaller budgets in Costa Rica.

The initiative, processed under file number 25.423, proposes a modification to article 14 of Law No. 8718 , of February 18, 2009, with the objective of strengthening the financing of these organizations.

Currently, these associations face financial difficulties due to the drop in sales of the popular instant products.

Although Article 13 of Law No. 8718 requires that 50% of the instant lottery’s net proceeds be transferred to palliative care foundations and associations, many entities are reporting sharp reductions in funding due to lower sales

“These associations are going through a really difficult time . . . They are facing cuts of between 40% and 50% of the resources they receive from the Social Protection Board, which clearly affects their operation and the provision of service to the people who require it,” Acuña stated.

In Costa Rica, palliative care and pain management are supported by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) and private associations.

According to the project text, the resources will be specifically directed to associations with budgets of less than 80,000 UDES (Development Units) of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, and must be used in full to meet needs related to human resources, medical equipment, medicines and other patient demands.

The proposal states that:

“Of the profits obtained from the prize plan in the electronic lottery, 20% will be distributed to clinical palliative care associations with budgets of less than 80,000 UDES from the Central Bank of Costa Rica, and the use of these resources will be allocated, in its entirety, to the care of the different needs in human resources, equipment, medicines and others of the patients.”

The prize plan for the electronic lottery will continue to be determined by the Board of Directors of the JPS, in accordance with the parameters established by law.

Now the project must be submitted to a legislative committee to begin its processing and discussion in the Legislative Assembly.