Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-19T21:38:40.196Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Medical Care Under Social Insurance in Latin America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2022

Dieter K. Zschock*
Affiliation:
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Social insurance entitlements represent one of the more controversial aspects of social sector development in Latin America. The most comprehensive critique of social security views the system's coverage and organization as a reflection of the region's social stratification (Mesa-Lago 1978). According to this view, power groups in public administration, private industry, and labor unions exercise control over the organization and financing of sickness, invalidity, and pension funds, and they seek to restrict benefits to their respective memberships. The noninsured lack market power and political organization because of their low levels of human resources development and lack of social cohesion. Mesa-Lago's critique may be more justified for the lower-income than for the higher-income countries in Latin America, however, at least regarding medical care, which is the system's largest single entitlement program in most Latin American countries.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

*

The author gratefully acknowledges comments on earlier versions of this paper by Jorge Castellanos of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), David de Ferranti of the World Bank, Beryl Frank of the Organization of American States, Maureen Lewis of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Phillip Musgrove of PAHO, Joseph Simanis of the U.S. Social Security Administration, and three anonymous LARR reviewers. Responsibility for the paper's content remains entirely with the author.

References

Annis, Sheldon 1979Programa de seguro social campesino.” In Strategies for Family Planning, Health, and Community Development in Rural Ecuador. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association.Google Scholar
Arroba, Gonzalo 1979The Financing of Social Security in Latin America.” In Methods of Financing Social Security. Geneva: International Social Security Association.Google Scholar
Brasil, Republica Da, Previdencia, Ministerio Da E Social, Assistencia 1980 A Previdência Social Brasileña. Brasilia: Ministerio da Previdência e Assistência Social.Google Scholar
Frank, Beryl 1982 La seguridad social en América Latina. Washington, D.C.: Organization of American States.Google Scholar
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE (ILO) 1981a The Cost of Social Security: Tenth International Inquiry, 1975-1977. Geneva: ILO, Social Security Department.Google Scholar
Frank, Beryl 1981b The Cost of Social Security: Tenth International Inquiry, 1975-1977, Basic Tables. Geneva: ILO, Social Security Department.Google Scholar
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) 1981 Government Finance Statistics Yearbook, 1981. Washington, D.C.: IMF.Google Scholar
INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY ASSOCIATION (ISSA) 1982 Medical Care under Social Security in Developing Countries. Studies and Research no. 18. Geneva: ISSA.Google Scholar
Mallett, Alfredo 1980 “Social Protection of the Rural Population.” In International Social Security Review 33, nos. 3-4:359–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcgreevey, William P. 1982 “Brazilian Health Care Financing and Health Policy: An International Perspective,” World Bank draft report. Washington, D.C.: World Bank, mimeo.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, Carmelo 1978 Social Security in Latin America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Musgrove, Philip 1983aThe Impact of Social Security and Health Care on Income Distribution in Latin America: What Do We Know and What Difference Does It Make?” Paper presented at the International Conference on Social Security and Health Care in Latin America in the 1980s, University of Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Musgrove, Philip 1983bFamily Health Care Spending in Latin America.” Journal of Health Economics 2: 245–57.Google Scholar
Palmero, Olga, Millor, Manuel, and Elizondo, Margarita 1981 Financiamiento y extensión de la seguridad social en América Latina. Mexico City: Instituto Mexicano de Seguridad Social.Google Scholar
PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO) 1977 “Coordination between Social Security Systems and Public Health.” Technical Discussion Paper. Washington, D.C.: PAHO, mimeo.Google Scholar
PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO) 1978 Extension of Health Service Coverage Based on the Strategies of Primary Care and Community Participation. Official Document no. 156. Washington, D.C.: PAHO.Google Scholar
PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION (PAHO) 1981 “Coordination of Social Security and Public Health Institutions.” Twenty-eighth Meeting of the PAHO Directing Council, Provisional Agenda Item 23. Washington, D.C.: PAHO, mimeo.Google Scholar
Roemer, Milton I. 1973Development of Medical Services under Social Security in Latin America.” International Labour Review 108: 123.Google Scholar
Roemer, Milton I., and Maeda, Nobuo 1976Does Social Security Support for Medical Care Weaken Public Health Programs?International Journal of Health Services 6, no. 1: 6978.Google ScholarPubMed
U.S. SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION 1982 Social Security Programs throughout the World, 1981. Research Report no. 58. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Wolfe, Marshall 1968Social Security and Development: The Latin American Experience.” In The Role of Social Security in Economic Development. U.S. Social Security Administration Research Report no. 27. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
WORLD BANK 1979 World Development Report, 1979. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zschock, Dieter K. 1979 Health Care Financing in Developing Countries. International Health Program Monograph Series, no. 1. Washington, D.C.: American Public Health Association.Google Scholar
Zschock, Dieter K. 1980Health Care Financing in Central America and the Andean Region.” LARR 15, no. 3: 149–68.Google ScholarPubMed