Today, we visited another unbelievable private hospital, Swiss Medical. The hospital was extremely nice, and the rooms throughout looked like hotel rooms. It also had world-class advanced technology and plenty of staff. We also visited another public hospital, Fernández Public Hospital, which was one of the nicer public hospitals we’ve seen so far, but it still wasn’t anywhere near the same standard as Swiss Medical. We were able to tour both hospitals and learn more about them today.

Throughout the trip, there has been a clear difference between U.S. and Argentine healthcare systems. U.S. healthcare is primarily private, while Argentina has a mix of both private and public care. In Argentina, healthcare is treated as a right; this is not the case in the U.S. Argentine citizens can receive care at a public hospital at any time, regardless of their income, insurance, or social status. There’s guaranteed access, even if the quality varies across the country. In the U.S., access to care depends heavily on insurance, which can be a major issue because of how expensive it is. It really shows how different the two systems are—one sees healthcare as a public right, the other as a personal responsibility.

One similarity between the two systems is that having more money allows an individual to access better healthcare. This was clearly seen over the past two days in our tours of ICBA and Swiss Medical. People are paying for top care and service, and that’s exactly what they’re getting. These facilities had extremely advanced technology, large medical staffs, and impressive infrastructure. This is similar to the U.S., where citizens with private insurance or the means to pay out-of-pocket have access to high-quality care. In both countries, economic status plays a huge role in determining the level of healthcare someone receives.