From Few to Many: Ten Years of Health Insurance Expansion in Colombia

Antonio Giuffrida, Carmen Elisa Flórez, Úrsula Giedion, Enriqueta Cueto, Juan Gonzalo López, Amanda Glassman, Ramón A. Castaño, Diana M. Pinto, Renata Pardo, Teresa M. Tono, William D. Savedoff, Eduardo Andrés Alfonso, Leslie F. Stone, Álvaro López, Yadira Díaz, María Luisa Escobar, Carlos H. Arango, Fernando Ruiz Gómez and Olga Lucía Acosta
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Olga Lucia Acosta () and Olga Lucia Acosta

No 426 in IDB Publications (Books) from Inter-American Development Bank

Abstract: From Few to Many is the first comprehensive look at Colombia's 1993 health system reforms. It describes the implementation of universal health insurance, including a subsidized system for the poor, and examines the impact of this and other reforms during a time when Colombia experienced crushing recession and internal conflict that displaced half a million people. Prior to the reforms, a quarter of the Colombian population had health insurance. Subsidies failed to reach the poor, who were vulnerable to catastrophic financial consequences of illness. Yet by 2008, 85 percent of the population benefited from health insurance. From Few to Many describes the challenges and benefits of implementing social health reforms in a developing country, exploring health care financing, institutional reform, the effects of political will on health care, and more. The reforms have provided important lessons not only for continued reform in Colombia, but also for other nations facing similar challenges.

Keywords: spending; programs; reforms of 1993; public hospitals; universal coverage; financing; poor; access; subsidized regime; services; gasto; programas; las reformas de 1993; hospitales públicos; cobertura universal; financiamiento; pobres; acceso; régimen subsidiado; servicios (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:idb:idbbks:426

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