The Social Work of the Armed Forces (OSFA) began a new phase this Wednesday, October 1, after fully assuming medical care for military personnel and their families.
As part of the implementation of the new scheme, the Government of Javier Milei announced the start of the cancellation of the historical debt of the social work, exceeding $200 billion, and the payment of an initial batch of more than 10,000 reimbursements, amounting to over $5 billion.
The announcement aims to rebuild the medical care network for Armed Forces affiliates throughout the national territory.
Javier Milei and Carlos Presti
According to an official report from the Ministry of Defense, the goal of this phase is to place the affiliate as a priority and recover the necessary benefits for military families.
The strategy also includes the reestablishment of ties with medical providers. According to the statement, authorities are holding meetings with various providers to agree on payments and advance in new agreements, including those that already provided care to affiliates.
The implementation of OSFA is taking place under the Decree of Necessity and Urgency 88/2026, signed in February by President Milei. The regulation created the new social work as an autonomous entity within the Ministry of Defense and established its operation throughout Argentine territory.
The decree also ordered the dissolution and subsequent liquidation of the Institute of Social Work of the Armed Forces (IOSFA), along with the creation of OSFA for Armed Forces personnel and OSFFESEG for federal security forces. The scheme sought to establish differentiated entities for each group of affiliates.
The statement from the Ministry of Defense
The payment of a historical debt
One of the main announcements of the new phase is related to the accumulated liabilities. According to OSFA, the Ministry of Defense and the Executive Power began to cancel a historical debt inherited from the Kirchnerist administration exceeding $200 billion, with the aim of recovering providers and progressively expanding available medical care.
The Government also focused on affiliates who were awaiting responses for previously incurred health expenses. In this regard, OSFA announced the initial payment of more than 10,000 reimbursements, for over $5 billion, as part of the first measures of the new management.
The entity stated that the process will not be limited to the payment of outstanding obligations but will include a transformation of the operational model. Among the announced objectives are the modernization of management, control of spending, and the priority allocation of resources towards medical benefits.
The structure of OSFA has also advanced in recent months. In September, the Executive Power approved its administrative, patrimonial, accounting, and control regime through Decree 986/2026, a step aimed at establishing the financial operating rules of the new entity.
With the start of full care from this October 1, OSFA seeks to advance in the reconstruction of its service network and in an administration aimed at ensuring medical coverage for Armed Forces personnel and their families.