An audit by the Comptroller General’s Office regarding the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS), the Paraguayan entity that administers mandatory social security and health services, identified payments exceeding G. 50 billion to more than 11,000 retirees who had already died. The report was presented to Congress on August 31 by Comptroller General Camilo Benítez, who stated that the issue could have been avoided by cross-referencing IPS data with the Civil Registry.
The exact amount is yet to be determined by a forensic audit. Benítez said the failure had been flagged in previous years but recurred in 2025. The findings will be analyzed by the Comptroller’s forensic and legal divisions before any potential referral to the Public Prosecutor’s Office; therefore, the irregularities described do not, in themselves, constitute a criminal conviction.
The report also identified a discrepancy of over G. 624 billion between records from the Integrated Hospital System and SAP, the system used by the IPS to control products and inventory. After updating the data, the recorded value for medications and other consumer goods dropped by approximately 45%. “We cannot assert anything, nor can we rule anything out,” Benítez declared, referring to hypotheses of recording errors or missing products.
According to the comptroller, the IPS has accumulated floating debt exceeding G. 1 trillion, which reduces its capacity to purchase medications and supplies because part of the resources is allocated to old obligations. The audit also mentioned about US$ 25 million in private agreements approved by courts, used for expenses that would have bypassed standard public contracting procedures, as well as rented properties yielding less than 1%.
Benítez attributed the problems to previous administrations, specifically citing the management of Vicente Bataglia. At the same time, he acknowledged Jorge Brítez, former president of the IPS, for requesting the audit. Brítez left office in April 2026 and is cited in reports as under investigation. Bataglia, for his part, was not presented in the provided information as convicted or formally held responsible for the payments.
The comptroller classified the IPS as “by far the most disorganized institution” in the state. The presentation occurred while his name appears as a favorite for his own reappointment to the position. When asked about alleged political lobbying, Benítez denied being in a campaign and stated that the role “feels more like a responsibility and a burden than a job.” He also criticized the lack of punishments in previous cases and estimated that irregularities detected by the Comptroller’s Office in recent years amounted to more than US$ 1 billion.
The administrative crisis runs parallel to the mobilization of public doctors. More than 300 professionals delivered resignation letters to the Ministry of Health after a week of national strike. The National Union of Doctors (Sinamed), led by Rosanna González, demands raising the salary per contract from G. 5 million to G. 8 million for 12-hour weekly shifts, along with supplies, holiday pay, and regularization of contracts. Of the approximately 11,000 doctors in the public network, about 9,000 are contracted.
González also appears in Ministry of Health records with three contracts totaling G. 13.3 million monthly and receives G. 12,057,430 from the IPS. At San Pablo Hospital, director Vicente Acuña stated that she has worked for about seven years in Occupational Health, in the Human Resources administrative area, and does not treat pregnant women or perform deliveries. Information about her routine and remuneration was published as a result of an interview with another outlet and did not include, in the material provided, a statement from the doctor or independent audit confirming all details.