
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">

<HTML><HEAD>

<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>

<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23569">

<STYLE></STYLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>

<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>

<DIV class=post-headline>

<H1>Spaniards Say No to Privatized Healthcare</H1></DIV>

<DIV class=post-byline>

<DIV id=single_post_category_images class=bfa_widget_area>

<DIV id=linkabletitlehtmlandphpwidget-3 class="widget widget_text">

<DIV class=textwidget><IMG class="attachment-580x387 wp-post-image" 

alt=Martinez_Spain_Healthcare_Blueprints 

src="http://www.popularresistance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Martinez_Spain_Healthcare_Blueprints-e1395517664270.jpg" 

width=580 height=339></DIV></DIV></DIV>

<DIV class=cat-date-line><SPAN class=cat-date-line2><A 

title="View all posts in Educate!" 

href="http://www.popularresistance.org/category/educate/" 

rel="category tag">Educate!</A></SPAN> <SPAN class=cat-date-line3><A 

href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/healthcare/" rel=tag>Healthcare</A>, 

<A href="http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/privatization/" 

rel=tag>Privatization</A> </SPAN><BR><SPAN class=cat-date-line4>By Ann Martinez 

<A 

href="http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/”http://inthesetimes.com/article/16423/spaniards_say_no_to_privatized_healthcare”" 

target=”_blank”>www.inthesetimes.com</A><BR>March 22nd, 2014</SPAN><BR></DIV>

<DIV id=google_translate_element>

<DIV dir=ltr class="skiptranslate goog-te-gadget">

<DIV style="DISPLAY: inline" id=:0.targetLanguage></DIV>  Powered by 

<SPAN style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap"><A class=goog-logo-link 

href="https://translate.google.com/" target=_blank><IMG 

style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3px" 

src="https://www.google.com/images/logos/google_logo_41.png" width=37 

height=13>Translate</A></SPAN></DIV></DIV></DIV>

<DIV class="post-bodycopy clearfix">

<DIV class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style " 

addthis:title="Spaniards Say No to Privatized Healthcare " 

addthis:url="http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/"><A 

class="addthis_button_facebook_like at300b" fb:like:layout="button_count">

<DIV class="fb-like fb_iframe_widget" data-ref="" data-layout="button_count" 

data-show_faces="false" data-action="like" data-width="90" data-font="arial" 

data-href="http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/" 

data-send="false" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" 

fb-iframe-plugin-query="action=like&app_id=172525162793917&font=arial&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fspaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare%2F&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=90"><SPAN 

style="WIDTH: 78px; HEIGHT: 20px; VERTICAL-ALIGN: bottom"><IFRAME 

style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; WIDTH: 78px; HEIGHT: 20px; VISIBILITY: visible; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" 

title="fb:like Facebook Social Plugin" height=1000 

src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?action=like&app_id=172525162793917&channel=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ak.facebook.com%2Fconnect%2Fxd_arbiter%2FLEdxGgtB9cN.js%3Fversion%3D40%23cb%3Df354c326ba670ae%26domain%3Dwww.popularresistance.org%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.popularresistance.org%252Ff35d91b1d43a14a%26relation%3Dparent.parent&font=arial&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fspaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare%2F&layout=button_count&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&send=false&show_faces=false&width=90" 

frameBorder=0 width=90 allowTransparency name=f1f53b023e70854 

scrolling=no></IFRAME></SPAN></DIV></A><A 

class="addthis_button_tweet at300b"><IFRAME style="WIDTH: 109px; HEIGHT: 20px" 

id=twitter-widget-0 

class="twitter-share-button twitter-tweet-button twitter-count-horizontal" 

title="Twitter Tweet Button" 

src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets/tweet_button.1395439856.html#_=1395587292405&count=horizontal&counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fspaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare%2F&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fspaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare%2F&size=m&text=Spaniards%20Say%20No%20to%20Privatized%20Healthcare%20&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popularresistance.org%2Fspaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare%2F&via=PopResistance" 

frameBorder=0 allowTransparency scrolling=no 

data-twttr-rendered="true"></IFRAME></A><A 

class="addthis_button_pinterest_pinit at300b"><SPAN 

class=at_PinItButton></SPAN></A><A style="DISPLAY: block" 

class="addthis_counter addthis_pill_style addthis_nonzero" 

href="http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/#"><A 

class="atc_s addthis_button_compact"><SPAN></SPAN></A><A 

class=addthis_button_expanded title="View more services" 

href="http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/#" 

target=_blank>9</A></A>

<DIV class=atclear></DIV></DIV>

<DIV class=pf-content>

<DIV class="printfriendly pf-alignright"><A 

onclick="window.print(); return false;" 

href="http://www.printfriendly.com/print?url=http://www.popularresistance.org/spaniards-say-no-to-privatized-healthcare/" 

rel=nofollow><IMG 

style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none" 

alt="Print Friendly" src="http://cdn.printfriendly.com/pf-button.gif"></A></DIV>

<P>The Spanish healthcare system was ranked seventh best in the world by the 

World Health Organization in 2000. But last year, Spain appeared to be well on 

its way to adopting a healthcare system more akin to the one used in the United 

States, which ranked 37th</P>

<P>In October 2012, Ignacio González, the leader of Madrid’s regional 

government, put forward a <A 

href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/13/defending-public-healthcare-in-madrid/">plan 

to privatize six hospitals</A> and 10 percent of the city’s health centers. 

Critics feared the plan was the first step toward privatization of hospitals in 

other regions.</P>

<P>But after a wave of strikes by medical providers, as well as lawsuits and a 

popular referendum, Spanish unions and citizens have won a decisive victory in 

the battle for public healthcare. On January 27, the Popular Party (PP), Spain’s 

center-right ruling party, <A 

href="http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/01/27/inenglish/1390844787_448815.html">canceled 

the planned privatization</A> of Madrid’s hospitals.</P>

<P>Shortly after the plan was announced in 2012, a coalition of unions called 

the first general strike in Madrid’s healthcare sector. The “<A 

href="http://murciatoday.com/the-white-wave-of-protest-sweeps-into-murcia_15096-a.html#.UyOAjFFdV1A">white 

wave</A>”—a reference to the medical smocks that strikers wore—quickly spread to 

the rest of the country as healthcare workers in 15 cities supported Madrid by 

staging a sympathy strike. This was followed by a popular referendum in May 

2013, which resulted in more than a million people going on record to oppose 

privatization.</P>

<P>In September 2013, the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) put the 

privatization plan on hold in response to a lawsuit filed by the Association of 

Medical Specialists in Madrid. The ruling party and the private entities 

involved in the plan appealed, but the high court upheld its previous decision, 

arguing that privatization would affect more than a million residents and cause 

“non-reparable damages” to 5,128 professionals.</P>

<P>Following this decision, and no doubt influenced by months of public unrest, 

González canceled the privatization scheme and accepted the resignation of 

Javier Fernández-Lasquetty—the region’s health chief and one of the architects 

of the plan.</P>

<P>This is “a victory for the social and professional mobilization,” Marciano 

Sánchez Bayle, secretary of the Federation of Associations in Defense of Public 

Health, told <EM>El País</EM>. But he noted that citizens must still 

“remain vigilant because there are a lot of things that people want to 

privatize.”</P></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>