Today was split into two parts. Firstly in the morning we meet with the health Minister of CABA (Ciudad Autonoma De Buenos Aires) Dr. Daniel Ferrante, who discussed the issues that come with administering health in the public sector. We then met with the director of the shop workers union, Dr. Gabriel Leverstein who discussed challenges that the unions in Argentina face when it comes to providing healthcare to their members. We also met with Dr Luis Giminez who was the former deputy minister of health for the country of Argentina who disused the issues that the national ministry faces with reaching its healthcare objectives. We then ended the day at the Museum of Antiquities where we learned more about the people and culture of Argentina.

Many of the issues that the unions in Argentina are facing stem from the national PMO (Programa Medico Obligatorio) which lists procedures and treatments that insurance providers are required legally to cover the cost of. This is not uncommon, and the United States has a similar list of mandatory treatments that must be covered by insurance agencies. What is different about the two countries though is that in Argentina there is no cap on the number of or cost of treatments that can be covered by the PMO while simultaneously having a cap on the amount that can be withheld from union members wages. This has led to a system where politicians will add treatments to the PMO in order to gain political support without actually increasing the union’s ability to pay for the treatments.

Another issue that unions face is that members can switch from union to union at will. So what ends up happening is that members in smaller unions who do not have the ability to pay for the PMO will switch to wealthier unions when they get sick, use the resources from the wealthier and larger unions, and then immediately switch back to the smaller and cheaper union when they become healthy again. Furthermore, unions who have their own insurance and hospitals cannot deny treatment to anyone or else they will face jail time and fines for doing so because healthcare is legally required to be provided within 48 hours of being requested. This has created a system where healthcare is provided when wanted and not actually when needed which creates massive financial waste within the system.