Mexico: National healthcare plan would insure everyone
Key points
- As U.S. officials struggle with problems of high costs and low coverage in the American health system, the Mexican Popular Health Insurance plan aims to cover all of the country's 105 million people by 2010.
- The insurance covers treatment and free medicine for many diseases.
- The plan also covers less life-threatening ailments like stomach infections and broken bones.
- To reach that goal, Mexico will gradually add about $800 million in new money to its existing $5 billion per year budget for healthcare.
As U.S. officials struggle with problems of high costs and low coverage in the American health system, the Mexican Popular Health Insurance plan aims to cover all of the country's 105 million people by 2010. To reach that goal, Mexico will gradually add about $800 million in new money to its existing $5 billion per year budget for healthcare.
The insurance covers treatment and free medicine for many diseases. Under the reform, AIDS patients have access to care and medicine at no cost, including retroviral drugs.
The plan also covers less life-threatening ailments like stomach infections and broken bones.
Written and revised by
David Cohen, M.D.
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