Today, we had an early start with the Current Deputy Minister of Health of the Public Sector, Dr. Daniel Ferrante. The city of Buenos Aires has the strongest healthcare system in the world. However, it experiences leakage from all the providences. Hence, it is impossible to know their clientele to produce an estimated budget. After Dr. Ferrante, we drove to Universidad de Austral to meet with Dr. Gabriel Leverstein, the current Director of the Obra Social de Comercio, the Largest Union in Argentina. I found myself extremely invested in the intricacies of his job. In Argentina, unions are the social safety nets. Every person with employment must be part of a union. 3% of an employee’s salary is given to the Obra sociales, along with a 6% payment from the employers themselves. With this money, unions may buy hospitals or make private contracts with companies to provide healthcare for members. However, if the Union doesn’t have sufficient funding, members are told to use public healthcare. In addition, they provide retirement and unemployment.

There are many different categories of Union coverages. For example, one may be employed and must join their respective union. However, many Argentines attempt to avoid paying taxes and work “in black” or are self-employed. In the past, these self-employed individuals attempted to block off the streets; hence, in order to calm the unrest, they were able to become part of a Union and receive money for their healthcare. In order to achieve this, there was a monthly payment of approximately $13.70 (originally 5.7 in the past) per month to receive $30 a month for healthcare. In addition, underneath this plan, members were able to add their family members once they were sick by paying an additional $13.70 per month. Also, as a non-married couple, the partner is capable of receiving coverage underneath the union without proof. This process was know as adverse selection. Finally, this original $5.70 per month includes an extra 1 month bonus from employers that is split between two months if you are employed. Hence, there is 13 months worth of payments sent to the Unions. However, if one is self-employed, there is no bonus, hence the Unions only received 12 months worth of payments. As a result, the Unions would only receive $4 per month, instead of the $5.70. Consequently, there is a lot of economic instability of the Unions, especially since Private sectors will usually send their sickest patients to the Public sectors or Unions.

After the lectures, we went on a three-hour bus tour around Buenos Aires. First, we visited the Pink Palace, where the President lives or works. Unfortunately, while visiting, we got attacked by a bunch of pigeons, so I did look like a crazy tourist, screaming on the floor. Fortunately, we were able to see the switching of the guards for the Cathedral, which occurs every 30 minutes. Although I am Jewish, I appreciated the beauty and infusion of religion into Argentina’s culture. After, we went to La Boca and San Telmo. I loved La Boca the best because most of the inhabitants were indigenous. I felt more connected to the culture there and I was able to speak Spanish in my dialect.