The extension of healthcare coverage and protection in relation to the labour market: Problems and policies in Latin America

In the past 25 years almost all 20 countries of Latin America have reformed their healthcare systems, but coverage by social insurance averages 53 per cent of the total population (less than the ILO minimum standard), ranges from 7 to 26 per cent in ten countries and has stagnated or decreased in at least eight, and access is insufficient. This article (1) analyses the transformation of the labour market and its impact on social insurance coverage; describes legal coverage of various groups; estimates statistical coverage/access and its trends in the three typical sectors (public, social insurance and private); documents the differences in coverage by income, geographical area and ethnic group; examines the difficulties in the incorporation of the informal economy, the rural population, indigenous peoples and the poor, as well as the causes of low coverage, and touches problems of access;(2) summarizes recommendations from international organizations on coverage and access; suggests specific policies to expand protection in general and to vulnerable groups, and identifies themes that require more statistics and research; and (3) summarizes findings and recommendations. A preliminary version of this article was presented at the ISSA Regional Conference for the Americas held in Belize City, 28‐31 May 2006. Based on the author's book Las Reformas de Saluden América Latina y el Caribe: Su Impacto en los Principios de la Seguridad Social (Santiago, ECLAC/GTZ, 2006), the article summarizes and restructures all pertinent sections of that book, with numerous changes and new data. Useful comments were provided by two anonymous referees.