Mexican spending on private health services: ECLAC

Between medicines, hospital services and medical insurance, Mexicans usually spend up to 7 out of 10 pesos on health, in addition to the contributions they make to receive the services provided by the State in this regard. According to the study “Diagnosis on the commodification of health in Mexico and proposals for the construction of a universal system from the perspective of the human right to health” of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the extra money that Mexican citizens disburse in relation to health is the result of the “fragmentation and commodification of the health system” in the Mexican Republic carried out between 2000 and 2017. The analysis carried out by the agency indicates that medical care in Mexico is closely related to how much can be paid for it. Taking as a reference data from 2018 taken by the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, ECLAC indicated that the average quarterly expenditure per Mexican on health was 838 pesos. However, he explained that there is a great difference between the resources allocated by people with low economic resources, who spend on average 260 pesos for these purposes, and those disbursed by the population with greater economic capacity, which spend, on average, 2,690 pesos. Read more: Know the products that Profeco pointed out as misleading or harmful during 2021As well, the document detailed that while the poorest population seeks medical attention for every 94 ailments, the population with the highest purchasing power does so for each 203.No however, ECLAC said, regardless of the level of income, the private sector ends up being the main provider of health services in Mexico, by covering 94.5% of diseases and other health events, due to “the insufficiencies in coverage and opportunity of public services”. The report points out that the reason why health has been commodified in the country is also due, in part, to the cuts in this area that have been made in the Budget of Expenditures of the Federation (PEF), stressing that in 2000, public spending for health accounted for 16.6% of the total, while for 2017 it is low at 15.8%. Read more: How you can process a loan for pensioners of the IMSS or ISSSTE from InternetHowever, ECLAC emphasizes that the Mexican government has the possibility of increasing the budget that is dedicated to the health of Mexicans by up to 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a figure recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Ahome is projected internationally at the Tianguis Turístico 2021

Original source in Spanish