Are market-oriented health insurance reforms possible in Latin America? The cases of Argentina, Chile and Colombia.
The process of health care reform benefits tremendously from comparing characteristics and performance across nations. This paper studies market-oriented health insurance reforms in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile and Colombia. Chile allowed private health insurers to compete for workers payroll contributions in the 1980s, permitting the modernization of the private health sector but relatively impoverishing the public health sector as a consequence of selection practices by private carriers. In the 1990s, Argentina and Colombia started liberalizing the health insurance sector but using policies to avoid the adverse effects encountered in the Chilean experience. These policies are scrutinized while challenges for these and future health insurance reform processes are discussed.
Bertranou
F M
FM
Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. fabiob+@pitt.edu
D001118:Argentina; D002677:Chile; D003105:Colombia; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006291:Health Policy; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D017149:Private Sector / Q000191:economics; D017150:Public Sector / Q000191:economics