OECD Reports Mexican Healthcare System Faces Some 'Daunting Challenges' Emma Rumney - Public Finance
go to original January 21, 2016

Health System in Mexico (Astrid Sotomayor)

In its review of Mexico’s health system for 2016, the think-tank urged the country to tackle high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease as well as inefficiency and problems in the way it delivers care.

One “fundamental problem” highlighted by the report is that care is delivered through a number of disconnected social security institutes, meaning that every year around one third of individuals in Mexico are forced to change doctor just because they have changed their job.

“This disrupts the continuity of care – a basic necessity of high-quality health care, especially for people with chronic conditions,” said OECD secretary general Angel Gurría.

“It is also wasteful, given that the same individual needs to engage with multiple systems throughout his or her life or even for a single episode of care. As currently arranged, the Mexican healthcare system does not deliver value for money.”

Public spending on healthcare increased from 2.4% to 3.2% of GDP between 2003 and 2013, but the OECD noted that increased spending doesn’t always translate into better quality care.

It added that the share of the Mexican health budget spent on administration (10%) and individuals’ out-of-pocket spending on health (more than 40%) are the highest in the OECD, indicating that the system is not working as efficiently as it should.

The report did note that the share of the population exposed to unaffordable or impoverishing health care costs has fallen from 3.3% to 0.8% in the past decade. Some 50 million Mexicans who were previously at risk of unaffordable care bills now have access to health insurance.

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