Despite having a larger budget than it had when the Seguro Popular still existed, the Health Institute for Wellbeing (Insabi) has lower per capita spending, that is, fewer resources to serve each user, according to the latest research from the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research (CIEP).
In the document, the CIEP pointed out that in the last year of existence of the Seguro Popular, per capita spending was 3,656 pesos, a figure that was reduced to 2,911 pesos this year, this when considering the budget that was approved and the projections of how many people without affiliation to the public system will it attend.
“Differences in per capita spending in health subsystems exacerbate inequality in access to health services. While Pemex’s per capita spending went from 23,896 pesos in 2016 to 29,803 pesos per person; that is, Pemex’s per capita budget is 10.2 times Insabi’s spending. The only per capita expenditure below Insabi is IMSS-Bienestar, 1,171 pesos ”.
In 2019, the last year in which the Seguro Popular was in force, the budget that was granted was 189,687 million pesos, a figure that increased to 218,614 million the following year with the creation of Insabi, although for this 2021 it was only approved an expense of 198,334 million pesos.
“In 2021, the budget for Insabi is 4.5% higher than that exercised in 2019 by Seguro Popular. This is equivalent to an additional 8,647 million pesos to serve 14.4 million more people than in 2019. The marginal increase in the budget translates into an expenditure of 2,911 pesos per person, 20.4% less than in 2019 with the Seguro Popular ” , detailed the CIEP.
Regarding the population without affiliation to a health institution, in 2000 there were 55.6 million Mexicans in this condition, a figure that was reduced to 22.4 million with the Seguro Popular and that, according to the government, it is intended to drop to 11.8 million people by the end of Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administration, in 2024.
“Although the population that does not have affiliation to any social security institution has been reduced, in the last 10 years this increase has not been reflected in higher rates of care, or in reductions in out-of-pocket expenses,” said the CIEP.
In this sense, the research pointed out that it is not only enough to increase the number of people affiliated with Insabi, but also to increase economic resources since if the result that could be achieved in universal coverage and effective care is not limited.
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