The Government authorized this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, at the proposal of the Ministry of Health, to allocate 1,763,521 euros to Asturias to expand the oral portfolio of the National Health System (SNS).

The total approved territorial distribution amounts to 68,058,000 euros for the promotion of the expansion of the common portfolio of oral health services in the SNS during the budgetary year 2025. The measure is part of the commitments made by Spain in Component 18 of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), aimed at strengthening the cohesion, equity and universality of the SNS.

The main novelty of this exercise is the progressive incorporation of the group of people over 65 years of age as a new target group of public oral health benefits, starting with those people who are institutionalized.

This action follows on from the Primary and Community Care Action Plan 2025-2027, which expressly provides for the monitoring of the implementation of the services portfolio in the initially prioritized groups and incorporates as a new target group those over 65 years of age.

As a result, changes have been introduced in the criteria for the territorial distribution of funds, which for the first time include this population group as a specific variable. In particular, 10% of the total budget appropriation is distributed according to the percentage of people over 65 years of age in each Autonomous Community and in INGESA, in relation to the national total.

The remaining 90% is allocated according to the number of people included in the groups already prioritized since the approval of the Plan for the expansion of the common portfolio of oral health services: population from 0 to 14 years (segmented into segments of 0-5, 6-12 and 13-14 years), pregnant women, people diagnosed with oncological processes of the cervicofacial territory and people with a recognized degree of disability equal to or greater than 33%.

The territorial distribution includes a total execution of 67,692,644.38 euros between the autonomous communities, and 365,355.62 euros allocated to INGESA for the development of the plan in Ceuta and Melilla. The funds must be committed by 31 December 2025 and the measures can be implemented until 2027.

The monitoring of the program will be carried out through indicators of coverage and activity, and will require the autonomous communities and INGESA to submit planning and implementation reports before September 30, 2025 and March 31 of the following year, respectively.

Results and follow-up

Since the beginning of the program for the expansion of the common portfolio of oral health services in the SNS, the Ministry of Health has allocated a total of 248,232,000 euros in the period 2022–2025. In the year 2022, 44,058,000 euros were allocated, a figure that increased to 68,058,000 euros in the years 2023 and 2024, maintaining this same allocation for the year 2025.

Since the implementation, the degree of coverage has improved significantly. In 2024, a coverage of 25.2% in the child and youth population and 28.33% in pregnant women was achieved, with a sustained increase over previous years. This budgetary consolidation has allowed us to promote a progressive and homogeneous implementation of the new benefits, guarantee territorial equity in access to public oral care and advance in the coverage of the prioritized groups.

An amount of EUR 67,692,644.38 (99.43%) and EUR 365,355.62 (0.57%) will therefore be transferred to INGESA, bringing the total to EUR 68,058,000, thus completing 100% of the budget line.