Today, we talked to Dr. Florencia Ledesma about MEDIFE and ASE. MEDIFE is a private insurance company, and ASE is an Obra Sociale. We learned more about how the private and union systems are becoming more similar now under Milei’s new changes to Argentine healthcare. She walked us through the funding and structure behind both systems and explained how these changes could eventually phase out unions, which is a major issue moving forward.

We also visited ICBA, a private hospital that focuses on cardiovascular care. We had a few lectures about the hospital and got a full tour of the facility. It was an extremely impressive building with tons of new equipment, lounge areas, and top medical staff. It was one of the nicest hospitals I’ve ever been in.

The difference between the public and private hospitals was very clear today—especially when comparing ICBA to San Isidro and La Matanza. It was shocking to see how advanced and modern ICBA is. The tour gave us a first-hand look at their cutting-edge technology and the amount of staff available throughout the hospital. This was the complete opposite of what we saw at La Matanza. That hospital had limited staff, old equipment, and the building itself was pretty run down.

Seeing this contrast made me think a lot more about healthcare inequality in Buenos Aires. Emotionally, it was kind of tough—it doesn’t feel right that where you go or what kind of care you get depends so much on your coverage. Morally, it raised some big questions in my mind about fairness and access. It also just made me more aware—before this, I didn’t really grasp how wide the gap is between private and public healthcare here. Today changed my perspective, and it’s something I’ll be thinking about for a while.